FullMetal Alchemist: Unordinary Lives
by boopbop
Summary: Alexandra and Yuki are two ordinary girls...with a few twists. One is a gravity manipulator and the other is a former state alchemist with a mysterious stalker. The Elric brothers come onto the scene. Holy hell, this is gonna be interesting...
1. Consequences

A/N:

Well, this is my first FMA fan-fic. It's going to be a long one…me and my friend have bunches of ideas lined up for it. I really hope you like it, and don't forget to review! Nyah! (-.-)

Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to me.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 1: Consequences**

Alchemy. The science of understanding the structure of matter, breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else. It can even make gold from lead. But alchemy is a science, and so it must follow the natural laws. To create, something of equal value must be lost. This is the principle of equivalent exchange.

Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse, knew the laws. They understood the principle of equivalent exchange; they understood they had to sacrifice something. But they thought that they had nothing more to lose.

They were wrong.

The type of alchemy that the brothers attempted to use was called human transmutation. All they wanted was to see their mother's face one more time; they wanted to bring her back from the dead. It didn't work they way they planned. Alphonse lost his entire body, and Edward lost his left leg. Soon after, he lost his right arm to preserve Alphonse's body in a suit of armor. He now had two limbs made of auto-mail.

It was their punishment for setting foot on holy ground, where mortals were forbidden. They made a mistake, and they were paying for it.

xxXxx

The Yuuzai twins were known as troublemakers in their town. If they weren't thinking up another practical joke to pull on someone, they were running away from one of their victims. Of course, their parents didn't mind, because at home, they were angels.

Alexandra Yuuzai, the younger of the two (by about 3 minutes) was basically what you would expect a girl to look like. She had wavy brown hair that was usually pulled up into a ponytail and clear blue eyes that would sparkle every time she was happy. She wore skirts most of the time, like proper little girls did, but she loved to wear combat boots and baggy pants like her dad. She was always seen with some sort of candy in her mouth and a smile on her face.

Alan Yuuzai was the mirror image of his sister, only he was a boy. Yes, they were fraternal twins. He had the same messy brown hair, only it was shorter, and the same blue eyes. His cheeks were almost always pink because of excitement when he broke the rules. He dressed similarly to his father, either in shorts or straight pants. He always had a collared shirt on because it made him feel more like a grown-up.

The brother and sister were images of sweetness. They were polite and adorable, and at first glance, they were the perfect children.

But nobody is perfect.

Their father, Jonathan Yuuzai, was a State Alchemist, and a great one, at that. He had always wanted his children to be State Alchemists as well, and with their determination and keen minds, he was sure they would succeed. So, when they were 9 years old, he took them outside and said, "Kids, today I'm going to teach you alchemy."

Of course, the very first thing he did was teach them the laws of the science and the principle of equivalent exchange. Excited to be following in the footsteps of their father, they put the pranks on hold and concentrated on their studies. When they had learned the basics, their father decided they were ready for the real stuff.

He led them outside to a little lot by their house. He took out two paintbrushes and told them, "Draw your transmutation circles. We're going to do the real stuff today." The glanced at each other and grinned, then took a paintbrush each and got to work. A few minutes later, they each had three transmutation circles on the grass. "Now," their father dictated, "I want you to turn the grass into bread. Go on, you know how."

So, they worked on it. Neither could change the grass on their first try. On the second try, Alan managed to create a half bread half grass loaf. Alexandra did not. On the third try, Alan had practically perfected his bread, but Alexandra still could not make anything. The siblings were naturally competitive so of course, Alexandra started working harder and harder to be able to do what her brother did.

After a month she was able to turn grass into a perfect load of bread. Her brother was already able to change glass into sand and back. She studied harder to catch up with him. They had fun using alchemy to change ordinary pieces of wood and metal into toys, and they often held contests to see who could make the neatest thing out of something ordinary. Her father was extremely proud that she had worked so hard and never doubted her skills.

Then, one day, something horrible happened.

One day, Alexandra was trying to turn sand into glass because Alan said she couldn't. She was busy drawing a transmutation circle on the ground in front of their house when Alan popped out of nowhere and put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't notice her hand had moved and one of the runes on the circle was incomplete.

"Hey sis, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing much, brother, I'm just going to prove that I _do _know how to change sand into glass," she answered with a smile.

"Well then," he said, "good luck." He turned on his heel and walked off. In the meantime, their mother, Sophie, had come outside to hang the laundry and was standing on the porch, her back to her daughter.

Alexandra took a deep breath and put her hands together, then put them down on the transmutation circle. Everything seemed to be going according to the plan, until the blue light emanating from the circle went out and reappeared as a blood red. Alexandra gasped. Suddenly she was thrown away from the circle and into the wall of the house. She sat up just in time to see a beam of the crimson light fly towards her mom. She screamed, but she was seconds too late. Her mom let out a surprised 'oh' and crumpled to the ground. Alexandra jumped up.

"Mom!" she screamed. "Mom, get up! Mom! Please, mom!" She ran over and dropped to her knees next to the limp body of her mother. "Mom," she yelled. "Mom! Please, say something!" The little girl started shaking the woman, but nothing happened. "Mom," she pleaded, sobbing, "mom, please…please, wake up, please…" She hiccupped as tears flowed freely down her face and onto the apron her mom wore. She doubled over and rested her head on her mother's shoulder, crying and shaking. There was a thumping sound as Alan came closer and closer, his footsteps on the wooden floor of the porch sounding like a heartbeat. Alexandra looked up at her brother, her eyes red and shining with tears, and ran over to hug him. Alan eyes widened as he looked from their mother to the transmutation circle that was half smudged.

"What did you do?" he asked, tears springing up in his own eyes. He pushed her away and looked her in the eye. "What did you do?!" he yelled, shaking her.

"Nothing!" she lied. "She fell…she just fell, Alan! She won't answer me!" she screamed, her sobs making her entire body shake. "She won't wake up," she whispered.

xxXxx

Five years later, the rest of the Yuuzai family was huddled together in the old lot by their house, bracing themselves against the cold night air. Their mother's body lay in the middle of a large transmutation circle. Alexandra was extremely nervous. She hadn't attempted alchemy after the accident and was scared to even think about what would happen if she did. Unfortunately, tonight, her family was going to try and revive their mom.

Bad idea.

Jonathan and Alan were ready. Alexandra wasn't. They went through the normal process and put their hands down on the transmutation circle. Each one of the felt the rush of wind as the circle began to glow and light surrounded Sophie. Everything seemed to be going right. Even Alexandra thought she would see her mom again. She refused to remind her family of the laws of alchemy.

Everything went wrong again.

Suddenly the yellow light that had been giving off a pleasant glow died down and was replaced by the same crimson light Alexandra had witnessed years before. She screamed in fear and tore her hands off the circle and fell backwards. She yelled to her dad and brother to move away, but they didn't hear her over their own screams. Alexandra felt tears flow down her cheeks as she yelled herself hoarse, watching her father being ripped to shreds before her eyes; her brother, only a few feet away, was yelling in agony as a hole formed in his chest. The last thing her father said was to take his pocket watch, to take it and keep it as a reminder of following the rules. He threw it weakly and she grabbed it, clutching it to her heart and letting tears fall onto its smooth surface. Soon after, her father was a mass of torn, bloody, pulpy flesh and her brother was moaning and dying in front of her. Alexandra screamed to her dad, she screamed to her brother, she screamed to God and pleaded to him for this to be nothing but a horrible, horrible nightmare, and that she could wake up any second now and her mother would hug her and comfort her and tell her it was all right.

Her screams echoed throughout the still night. She was blood spattered and shaken, and sobbed and shook uncontrollably, her eyes wide with fear. She looked to her brother.

"Alexandra," he whispered weakly and painfully, trying to sit up. His chest wound was enormous; it had practically ripped through him.

"Alan!" Alexandra shouted, running to her brother's side and kneeling next to him. "Alan! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry…I'm sorry this happened! I didn't mean for this to happen!" She pressed her bloody hands to her face. "I'm sorry!" she screamed to the sky, tears staining her cheeks and dropping on her brother's face. She looked back down at him, at his pulsing organs. Then she quickly realized something.

His wound was about the size of her arm.

"Alan," she whispered. "Alan, I'm going to get you out of this. You hear me? Stay with me Alan! Stay with me!" After hearing a soft moan from her brother's mouth she groped around in the dark for her dad's knife. She found It quickly when she ran her hand down its steely blade and tore her hand apart. She didn't wince.

She grabbed the knife by the handle and quickly drew another transmutation circle, placing her brother in the middle.

The only thing to do now was to follow the principle of equivalent exchange.

To sacrifice something.

To give her arm.

Her hand shook a bit, but she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She raised her arm up and held the knife a foot above her shoulder. The moon showed itself, mocking her, forcing her too see what she had done…or rather, what she hadn't.

She hadn't warned them, she hadn't reminded them of the law. Now one was dead and the other dying.

Alexandra squeezed her eyes shut and thrust the blade down, piercing skin and tissue, muscle and bone, plunging it through and sawing through her own flesh. The blood was everywhere, staining the grass, staining her skin, staining her clothes. It hit her face and left eerie droplet of red, making her look sick.

But her flesh would do. Even though human transmutation was taboo, even though it was unspeakable to tread in the territory of God and God alone, she did it. She pressed her one hand against the circle and the last thing she heard was a gasp from Alan.

Then she blacked out.

xxXxx

Alexandra woke up with a start two days later and found herself in a bed with red sheets. She did a double take when she saw that the sheets were white; the red was just the stain from her blood. She gagged at the sight of her mangled stump of an arm and wondered where she was.

"Sister, I see you're awake," said Alan evenly. He was sitting in an armchair next to her bed, with nothing but a pair of boxers on. She was used to seeing her brother naked, so it didn't bother her. She looked at the scar on his chest and was delighted to see he was alive.

"Brother, you're alive!" she exclaimed, feeling a burden lift off her heart.

"Yes, I am," he answered with a smile. "I'm guessing you saved me?"

"Yes…" her voice cracked as the memories of that night flooded into her head. The screaming, the blood, her mother's dead body, her dad's mutilated pile of flesh. She gagged again and pressed her fingers to her eyes, trying to block the scene.

"Well, Jeroh drugged you so that you wouldn't feel the pain. That _is _painful, isn't it?" he asked, pointing to her non-existent arm. She shook her head dumbly.

"I don't remember the pain from my arm…I only remember the pain of seeing dad die…and seeing you dying. I'm so glad that you're alive, Alan," she whispered, tears showing in her eyes as she reopened them. "I'm so glad."

"I…" Alan was obviously at a loss for words, because he opened and closed his mouth a few times. His eyes glazed over and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Alexandra, what happened to mom?" he asked, getting up and standing over her.

"I – I told you, she fell," Alexandra stuttered, looking up at him with fear.

"Bullshit!" he yelled, bearing down on her and looking straight into her eyes. "You know that's not what happened! Now tell me!"

"I…oh, Alan, it was my fault!" she wailed, breaking down completely, waves of nausea and pain and emotion rolling over her. "It was the transmutation circle," she whispered shakily. "When you put your hand on my shoulder I messed up on a rune…the power recoiled and I flew into the wall…it hit mom…" She broke off, taking a deep, racking breath. "I killed her, Alan…I killed her!" she screamed, throwing her one arm around her legs and tucking them into her chest, burying her face in her knees. "I killed her," she repeated, over and over. Alan obviously had a change of heart and hugged his sister. He held her tightly and allowed her to cry, feeling twice as bad for yelling at her.

"What's going on here?" asked a high-pitched voice from the doorway. Alan looked up and so did Alexandra. They looked at the short and stumpy figure of a woman with a mole on her chin. She had a sharp face and cold eyes.

"W-who are you?" Alexandra asked, wiping her tears.

"_Who are you?_" the woman mimicked cruelly. "I'm the one that's going to fix your arm, that's who I am. And I thought I told you to leave her alone!" she directed at Alan.

"She's my sister!" Alan protested.

"_She's my sister!_" the woman repeated annoyingly. "I don't care if she's God! Shoo! I have to fix her arm!"

"Give me a second, you fucking hag," Alan hissed. He looked at Alexandra. "Look, she's going to fix your arm…all I know is that she may be mean, fat, annoying, and cruel, and it's going to hurt like hell, but she's one of the best in the business."

"Wait…what business?" Alexandra asked nervously. Alan got up and walked to the door. He put his hand on the frame and looked back at his vulnerable sister.

"Auto-mail."


	2. Friends Till the End

A/N:

Hey, I hope you guys like this chapter. The beginning is a flashback, just in case it's hard to tell. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to me.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 2: Friends Till the End**

"_Auto-mail." With that, Alan turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Alexandra alone with the hag that was supposed to 'fix' her arm. She looked at the woman with a scared expression, and she just smirked at the teen, showing rows of uneven, chipped, yellow teeth. Alexandra shivered._

"_Well, girlie, looks like you got in an accident, huh?" Jeroh sneered._

"_You could say that," Alexandra replied coldly._

"_Ah, a feisty one, are you? Well, you won't be so feisty when you see what I'm going to do to you." She advanced towards the poor girl, pulling a painful looking needle out of her filthy apron as she came closer._

_After about five minutes, Alexandra was kneeling on her bed with her face contorted in pain. She was breathing heavily and looking away from her arm. Jeroh was half standing, half sitting next to the bed with a kit full of medical supplies and a tool kit beside that. She was concentrated on Alexandra's arm, fusing wires, cutting skin, attaching nerves, and doing a whole bunch of other unpleasant things._

_To be completely and brutally honest, the procedure hurt even more than when Alexandra had actually cut off her arm. The sound of the fusing and the smell of burning flesh made her want to throw up, but somehow, she hardly felt it. Her mind was on her parents. Her dead parents. What would she do now that they were gone? Was she going to live with her brother? They both had their separate bank accounts and their parents' fortune (which was actually an extremely large sum) had been split between them already._

_A few hours passed. Alan was pacing outside the door, wincing every time he heard his sister shout out He hated that he had gotten out of the whole thing with nothing but a scar. He pounded the wall. It was so unfair! His sister had no arm because of him…but she deserved it, didn't she? She killed their mother and father, and almost killed him, for Christ's sake! Suddenly there was a whistling sound from outside, and before Alan could react, a huge explosion shook the small house. He was thrown off his feet and his heart sank when he heard an ear-shattering scream of pain from his sister in the room. He picked himself up and ran inside._

"_Alexandra! Alexandra, are you alright?" he yelled over the noise of the continuing explosions outside. Alexandra was on the floor, covered in dust and pieces of wood, and various other parts that had come from the wall. Alan ran inside and took her arm. The wrong one, obviously. _

"_No!" she screamed. "No, don't touch!" Tears sprang up in her eyes as he let go. She stuck her other hand out to him and he pulled her up._

"_Where's Jeroh?" Alan asked hurriedly, ducking as he saw more explosions through the gaping hole in the wall._

"_She's dead, Alan…something hit her in the back of the head," Alexandra whispered. "Just like-"_

"_Shush!" Alan said, wrapping his arm around her waist and helping her out of the room. They had to get out of the house. The only trouble was, Alexandra was in nothing but a flimsy white patient's dress. Alan winced as he heard another explosion. There was no way they would be able to go to their house to get her some clothes. She was going to have to either wear something of his, or wear nothing. "Look, Alexandra, I didn't bring any of your things here…you're going to have to wear my clothes. There's no way we can get to our house. Is tha – hang on, what's wrong, sister? What's happened to you?" He stared at Alexandra. Tears were flowing down her face and she had her eyes shut tight._

"_It's my arm, Alan," she said shakily. "Look…" Alan stopped and glanced at her arm. The sight of it shocked him beyond belief. _

"_W-what happened?" he asked, slowly bending down to take some clothes out of his bag._

"_Jeroh…the explosion surprised her and her hand slipped…then something hit her hard and she collapsed. I…Alan, it hurts so much!" she shouted softly. _

_Indeed, it looked painful. It looked almost complete, but half of it was connected crooked and it was bleeding horribly. Part of the wiring was digging into Alexandra's arm and causing more bleeding. He gagged and covered his mouth. She stared into his eyes as if begging for help. He just grabbed something out of his duffel and shoved it into her arms._

"_Here, go change," he said weakly, running off to the bathroom. He needed to throw up._

_Minutes later, Alexandra and Alan were running through the demolished streets of their once peaceful city. They had been avoiding soldiers at all cost; apparently the city was under siege because someone very powerful thought that the Philosopher's Stone was somewhere in it. Alexandra was dressed as a boy, with baggy black pants and one of his collared shirts. They weaved their way through the streets, going around anyone who looked like they were on the bad side._

_Suddenly they crashed into a soldier._

"_Well, what do we have here?" the man sneered. "A pair of kids, huh? Well, we'll take care of you soon enough…" _

"_Leave us alone!" Alexandra screamed at the man._

"_Yeah, bitch? Why don't you try and make me?" he asked, lifting her chin up with his fingers. Alan started forward to try and get him away, but someone grabbed him from behind._

"_What the - what's going on here?" he demanded angrily._

"_Oh, we can't have any witnesses to what we're doing, can we? So we're just going to have to blow you to pieces!" He laughed cruelly. "Get them, Anthony."_

"_No!" Alexandra screamed loudly, startling everyone. Her face was red with fury. "You know what, you bastards? I've had enough! I killed my own mother, my father, I almost killed my brother, and now my non-existent arm has been replaced by badly positioned auto-mail! So go fucking bother someone else!" She slammed her right foot on the ground and waved her arm in front of the man in her anger. Suddenly the man flew sideways, in the direction Alexandra had waved her arm. Her eyes widened and she stepped back into the arms of another soldier._

"_Alexandra! What else are you hiding from me?" Alan asked, sounding hurt._

"_Alan…how did I do that?" she asked in a whisper. The head soldier stood up and snarled._

"_That's it. Blow the little bitch and her friends to smithereens. I don't want anything left of them but smears on the ground," he spat. Alexandra stomped her foot on the soldier's foot who was holding her. She thrust her arms forward and broke free. The head soldier flew backwards._

"_That's it!" Alexandra whispered. She swiveled around to look at her brother and his captor. She quickly stomped the ground and thrust her arms sideways. The soldier flew into the wall and Alan was free._

"_Come on," he shouted, "let's go!"_

_They both ran off to the edge of town, not really knowing where they were headed._

_A Few Months Later_

_Alexandra leaned against the wall of a wet building then slid down to sit on the ground. She rested her head in her knees and started sobbing pathetically. It was raining and she sat alone under a dying streetlight. It had been about 3 months since she was separated from her brother…the last she heard of him, he had become a State Alchemist…and she was all alone. At some point in her travels, she had fashioned herself an arm brace that covered her entire left arm, made of steel, to keep her auto-mail in place. She was too scared to openly search for an auto-mail mechanic, so she hadn't found one. The brace helped a bit with the pain, but she was glad that it hurt a bit. It reminded her of the deadly mistakes she had made. She looked up at the streetlight as it sputtered out, and she sighed. With one swift motion, she whipped out a silver pocket watch from her pants pocket. She had given it to Alan when they had to separate, but he didn't want it. He said for her to keep it as a reminder of what they had been through. She hadn't seen him since._

_She put the pocket watch back and held her head in her hands. Her tears mixed with the rain that was already pouring down her face. The quiet street echoed her small sobs. Suddenly there was a shuffling noise in front of her and the rain seemed to stop falling. Alexandra looked up. A girl, taller (and probably older) than she was, stood in front of her, holding an umbrella over her soaked body._

"_Looks like you need a friend," the girl said with a smile. "My name's Yuki Aurion. I happen to be that friend."_

Alexandra Yuuzai , 17 years old, walked down the street with her best friend-dubbed-sister, Yuki Aurion – who was 18 – arm in arm, giggling happily about some joke or other.

Alexandra had changed in that year after being separated from her brother. Her hair was the same colour, of course, and her eyes were still the same shade of blue, and her freckles still seemed to dance across her nose when she laughed. But Alexandra didn't change in appearance; she changed in soul.

She was constantly happy, and always made jokes with Yuki. She told funny stories just for the heck of it, and to make Yuki laugh. Hell, she was even the head of the choir at their local church.

Yes, Alexandra really seemed as if she was a whole new person. It was like she was now whole in spirituality, and she seemed happy about it.

But she wasn't. She was miserable. She was just very good at hiding it.

In the year of being best friends with Yuki, being her roommate, sharing secrets and laughs with her, she had not confessed her secret. She had not told Yuki that she had a brother who she missed terribly; she did not tell Yuki how she had killed her mother and father. She did not tell her that the brace on her arm was keeping her auto-mail in place; rather, she told her it was because her arm was weak.

Alexandra did not tell Yuki how she cried herself to sleep some nights, clutching her pocket watch and watching it glisten in the faint light of the moon that came through her window. She did not tell her best friend how empty she felt inside. She had a lot of secrets that she kept to herself. She didn't trust anyone, not even Yuki…it was the sad truth.

Of course, Yuki had her own secrets too. Aside from the fact that she liked to cosplay with herself (which Alexandra had actually figured out after stumbling across a bunch of pictures of her friend in a bunny suit) she was also a former State Alchemist, but she quit after the Ishvalan War. She hated mindlessly killing everyone. So, about three years ago, she turned in her pocket watch and came to this town, where she got a job as a baker's assistant to pay for her apartment. She shared it with Alexandra, who paid her share of the rent with the money she made as a singer at a bar, and as a clerk in a small candy shop.

At that moment, the pair stopped in front of a costume shop. Yuki skipped inside while Alexandra leaned against the wall of the store and waited. She closed her eyes.

"_And where do you think you're going, pretty girl?" someone sneered from the shadows. Alexandra whipped her head around to see who had spoken._

"_W-who's there?" she asked nervously._

"_Oh, don't worry…" A figure stepped out of the darkness, followed by another. They were both holding a pair of handcuffs. Before Alexandra could use her so-called "powers" to help herself, somebody grabbed her from behind and lifted her off of the ground. "…we're here to help you." The two men, sheathed in cloaks, cuffed the girl's hands and feet and then dragged her into some dark building._

_Alexandra woke up about five minutes later, after being drugged by the strange men. She found herself in the center of a huge transmutation circle that was already glowing. She tried to scream but she had been gagged. She looked around nervously and saw something lying next to her. Her vision was blurred, but it seemed to be an outline of cat. Suddenly, she felt wind circling around her. A few seconds passed, and she fell backwards onto the cold concrete floor, unconscious._

Yuki had come out of the store and Alexandra had jerked out from her little trance and smiled at her friend. She was sporting a new hat, one with bunny ears that were fuzzy and floppy. With a grin, the two set off down the street together. Alexandra's cat ear twitched under her own cosplay style hat (with cat ears) and they chatted contentedly about random things.

If only they knew the secrets they were keeping from each other.


	3. A Pervert and his Candy

A/N:

NINJAAAAA! Sorry, I had to do that…I swear it's addicting. My friend does it all the time. O.o;

ANYWAY. Onto the next chapter!

Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to me.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 3: A Pervert and his Candy**

Yuki laughed at the joke Alexandra had just told. The brunette grinned back and stopped in front of their apartment. Yuki fumbled through her pockets to search for the key, and shoved all her shopping bags (and hell, there was a lot of them) into Alexandra's arms. Alexandra giggled and waited for Yuki to open the door. She dropped the bags 'accidentally' and that's when she noticed someone leaning against their building's corner. She eyed him suspiciously and bent over to pick up the bags. That's when she saw him eye her chest. Her eyes widened when she saw what he was doing. Alexandra straightened up.

"PERVERT!" she screamed at him angrily.

"Wha-? What, no! No, I'm not a pervert!" he protested, putting his hands up in front of his face.

"My ass you aren't!" she spat.

"And what a nice ass it is," he smirked.

"Okay, you bastard, you asked for it!" She stomped on the ground and sent him flying up into the air, then crashing back into the sidewalk. He landed on his face with a thud and started to twitch uncontrollably. Yuki, by this time, had found the key. She turned around and saw the guy lying on the ground. She laughed and ran next to him, then kneeled down and started poking his side.

"Ha, ha," she laughed, "poke, poke, poke!"  
They guy groaned and rolled onto his back, his eyes only half open. They made eye contact and Yuki stopped poking him immediately and jumped up.

"Come on, Alexandra…let's go!" she shouted, dragging her confused friend up to their apartment.

Once inside, Yuki locked the door with all 15 locks, then pressed her back against it.

"Yuki, what the fuck is going on?" Alexandra asked.

"Oh, um, noooothing," Yuki sang, skipping away from the door. When she was about two meters away she looked back to make sure nobody had followed them.

"Cut the crap, Yuki! I know you're hiding something!" Alexandra backed Yuki into a corner. "Spill!"

"Um," she stuttered, "hey, look! A mongoose!"

"What the hell? What's a mongoose?"

"Um, a marmot?"

"What is a marmot?"

"Oh, I give up! I'll tell you! Just…back away a little, mmkay?"

"Fine." Alexandra dragged Yuki to the ratty old couch and threw her onto it. "Now, who was that guy, why was he looking at my chest, and why are you so afraid of him?"

"Roy Mustang, 'cause he's a pervert, and I think if he recognizes me he'll try to stuff me into a miniskirt."

"Okaay," said Alexandra, "I heard that entire explanation but I still don't know what's going on."

"Well, that's all you need to know. BYE!" She jumped up and bolted towards her room.

"Wait!" Alexandra yelled, running after her. "I have more questions!" Yuki slammed her door shut and Alexandra ran into it. Then she opened it again and stuck her head out through the crack.

"Sorry, the Yuki Question and Answer Hotline is closed for today. Please leave a message at the beep. BEEP!" Then she ducked back inside and locked her room from the inside. Alexandra was left standing outside, with a very cute and confused look on her face.

Meanwhile, outside, Roy Mustang had got up and was looking up at the apartment building.

"My God, there's something familiar about that girl…ah, well, I'll look into it tomorrow. Or my name isn't THORAX THE IMPALER! No, wait, I mean, Roy Mustang…yeah, that's it…" He looked around with shifty eyes and ran into an alley.

xxXxx

"Ah, what a nice morning!" Yuki exclaimed, kicking her door open and wandering outside into the kitchen with nothing on by a robe. "Don't you think it's a nice morning?" she asked Alexandra, who was at the stove.

"Yep, it's perfect," Alexandra replied, flipping a pancake. "I hope you're hungry. I think I made enough of these to feed an army! And why the hell are you so happy? You're never this happy." She reached over to feel her forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever…oh, maybe you're in looove, with that pervert from yesterday!"

"Am not!" she protested.

"Don't try to fool me, I saw the way you poked him," said Alexandra with a cheesy grin.

"I, uh, I was only poking him to see if he was alive! God!"

"Ha, ha, Yuki and Roy, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…"

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" Yuki screamed, chasing her around with a frying pan.

Alexandra laughed and slipped on the floor in her white-socked feet and managed to escape Yuki's wrath. She started giggling uncontrollably; so hard, in fact, that her pink hat was quivering on top of her head and messing up her already messy brown hair. She was only dressed in her brother's white collared shirt, and it reached to about her mid-thigh. Her blue eyes were brimmed with tears of joy as she got up, smiling at Yuki.

Yuki had dropped the frying pan and ran a hand through her long black hair, tugging at some stubborn knots and brushing it from her face. She rubbed tears of joy from her own purple eyes and straightened her robe. She ran over to the stove, her bare feet slapping against the cold floor, where she grabbed a pancake and stuffed it in her mouth. It was sticking out slightly, so Alexandra walked over and shoved the whole thing into her face. Then she grabbed one for herself, ate it, then grabbed another and another…

Pretty soon, all the pancakes were gone and the two roommates sat on the floor, full and happy.

"So, Yuki, what do you want to do now?" Alexandra asked with a yawn. She had two slightly sharper top teeth, because of the whole deal of being a human chimera, but it was only noticeable if you looked really hard.

"I don't know," Yuki replied casually. "How about we go on a walk, or something? I think it's a nice day for a walk."

"Yeah, I hear it's going to snow today…hopefully I'll be able to catch the first snowflake on my tongue. I love doing that!" She grinned, and then her expression changed and she snapped her fingers. "Oh, yeah, I just remembered! I have to go check the shop!"

"For what?" Yuki asked, looking at her fingernails.

"Just to look around, you know, to make sure everything's in its place. Mr. Isis said I could take some candy for being such a good employee, too," she added, putting on her cutest smile.

"Pff, figures he would let you…I think he has a crush on you," scoffed Yuki.

"Oh, shut up!" said Alexandra, hitting her friend playfully. "He's like 80 years old! Plus, he's a really nice man!"

"Sure, that's what they all say. Then the kindly old man turns out to be an axe murderer…and guess who the first one to go is?"

"Who is it?"

"The girl he always favoured!" Yuki burst out in maniacal laughter and fell backwards, clutching her stomach.

"Oh, ha, ha, that's hilarious," Alexandra said sarcastically, standing up and heading towards her room. "And I'd advise you to change into something more appropriate…unless you want pervert boy to stalk you."

"Oh, shut up!"

xxXxx

Alexandra observed herself in the mirrored doors of the front hall closet. She was waiting impatiently for Yuki.

_Ugh, I may as well check over my clothing…let's see, what's first? Oh, right. Hat, check! _She played with the furry ears of the brown hat she had put on. _Okay…stripes? _ She held her arms out and looked at the fitted sweater under the loose brown t-shirt she was wearing. It was lined with orange and peach. _Okay, skirt, pin? _She spun in front of the mirror and watched her brown skirt twirl around her legs. The gold pin was decorating the front thing. _Brace? _She quickly pulled up her left sleeve and checked that the clasps on the steel covering were tightly fastened. She rolled down the sleeve and sighed. _Boots, gloves, blah, blah, blah… _Her steel-toed combat boots were on her legs (no duh) and reached just below her knees, and her black gloves were on her hands (double duh). _Yuki? _She looked around. _Not check! Where the hell is she? _"YUKI!" Alexandra yelled. "GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Suddenly Yuki slid in beside her and fell to the ground.

"I'm here, I'm here! Oh my God! You're so demanding!" she muttered, standing up.

"Yeah, well, because of you, I had to check every fucking piece of clothing I'm wearing! What took you so long, anyway?" Yuki was wearing a pair of plain blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black hoodie. She dusted off her sleeve and stepped into her winter boots.

"I was choosing my clothes carefully," Yuki explained.

"Right," Alexandra said, rolling her eyes.

xxXxx

Alexandra unlocked the candy shop and stepped inside, looking around. The lights were off and it was sort of creepy…she shook her head and stepped into the back to check if everything was alright. Suddenly she heard a creaking sound. After stuffing a whole bunch of candy into her pockets she ran out of the small room.

"Yuki…? Is that you?" she asked. There was no answer. She took another step and Yuki fell down on the floor in front of her. Alexandra fell over in fright, but quickly jumped back up. "What the fuck?" Alexandra asked.

"Hi," said Yuki from her spot on the floor.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Yuki motioned up. "What?! How the fuck did you get on the ceiling?!"

"How should I know?" Again, there was a creepy noise from the front of the shop. Yuki jumped into Alexandra's arms and clamped onto her. "Whassat?" she whispered.

"I don't know…let's go check it out!"

"What? Are you insane?"

"I don't know. Probably. Come on!"

"No way! You go!"

"Suit yourself." Alexandra dropped Yuki on the floor and made her way to where the noise had come from. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she carefully stepped around a figure on the ground and turned on the lights. "Don't move!" she yelled.

"Ah!" Roy shouted, shielding his eyes from the bright light.

"Oh my fucking God! It's you! Pervert boy!" she screamed, bringing Yuki running.

"No, I swear, I'm not a pervert! I just happen to like following girls around and miniskirts." He stopped. "Uh, you didn't hear that."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Um…I'm here to, uh, buy candy for this, uh, little girl I know!" he lied.

"Oh my God," Yuki said evenly, "not only are you a pervert, you're a pedophile too!" She ran up to him and kicked him out the door. Alexandra threw a chair at him, followed by a lollipop.

"There's your candy, pervert! The chair comes at no extra cost! Now stay away from us!" Alexandra yelled.

xxXxx

"Oh my God," Roy muttered to himself, trailing Yuki and Alexandra as they walked down the street. "Those girls are insane. At least this lollipop tastes good."

"Why do you think he's following us?" Alexandra asked. "And how do you know him?"

"He's a pervert and a pedophile, isn't that enough? Seriously."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good reason. Maybe he just wants candy! But how do you know him?"

"Are you stupid? What kind of a reason is that?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"I know I am."

"Yuki?"

"What?"

"Is there a _reason _you're not answering my question, or do you just not _want_ to answer?"

Yuki didn't say anything.

"Oh, come on, Yuki! Who is he?"

"Ugh, fine, I'll tell you… he's-"

Yuki was cut off abruptly when Alexandra was thrown backwards into a wall by some unknown force. When the dust cleared, so to speak, she saw that the unknown force was actually a boy.

His blond hair was tied into a braid.


	4. Enter, Elric Brothers

A/N:

Okay, Okay, here's the next chapter! –does the wave- Whee!

Disclaimer: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to me.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 4: Enter, Elric Brothers**

"Al, remember what I told you?" Edward (Ed) Elric asked, walking down the street and looking up at his brother.

"Yes, Ed. I remember," Alphonse (Al) Elric replied.

"What did I say, Al?"

"We're laying low."

"And _why _are we laying low?"

"Because the last city we were in banished us forever and pelted us with rice?"

"Good. Now, what _else _did I say?"

"No taking off my armour?"

"Okay, that too. But what _else?"_

"No accepting candy from strangers?" Ed snapped.

"Oh my fucking God, Al! You are such a moron!" He started chasing his brother through alleys and across streets.

"Okay, okay, Ed! You said that we can't tell anyone we're alchemists! Now stop chasing me!" he yelled. Ed didn't stop. "Ed, stop!"

"No!" Ed yelled back. "I'm going to keep chasing you until you stop!"

"Why?"

"Stop and you'll find out!"

xxXxx

"Okay, Ed, I think we're lost," said Al, scratching his head.

"No shit, man. I thought we were running around in circles. Where are we?" Ed asked, looking at the street signs.

"How should know? I've never been here before!" Al exclaimed. He pointed to a group of dirty looking soldiers. They were all wearing menacing expressions and smoking. "Why don't we ask those friendly looking people for directions?"

"Okay, Al, I _really _hope that was sarcasm, for your sake." As Ed looked around, he realized that they were on a tiny street, and the people in the gang were the only people there; on top of that, they were walking towards the brothers and cracking their knuckles… "Oh, shit. That _can't _be good." The guy that looked to be the leader stopped in front of Ed. He spat at his feet.

"What're you doing on my turf, squirt?" he asked hoarsely.

"Being lost. Look, can you help us – wait, squirt? Squirt?! _Squirt?! _Who are you calling a squirt? Next thing you know you be calling me a half pint, and a shorty, and a hobbit! Do I look like a hobbit to you, buddy?" Ed asked, getting up into the guy's face (which was actually pretty hard since he was so short).

A/N:

I am now interrupting the story to say that Edward Elric got mad at the author cough me cough and decided to step out of his other life and beat said author to a pulp.

This has been a message from your concerned author. I now return you to the previous story.

END A/N.

Ed's outburst towards the gang leader caused a downright riot. The alchemist had thrown a punch at the guy's face, but he had missed, and he (his name was 'Torre') punched back. Unfortunately, he had made contact with Ed's nose and he fell backwards. Ed got angry and jumped up, kicking Torre in the shins repeatedly and causing him to fall over. Al was busily fighting off the other gang members. There were 5 of them, but he was doing all right, pounding each one on the head and crushing them into the ground. Suddenly Torre pulled out a revolver and pointed it at Ed's forehead.

"Oh, shit," Ed muttered. He went cross-eyed and looked up at his forehead.

"Well, squirt, what're you going to do now?" Torre sneered.

"Something like this…AL, BAIL!" he screamed, turning around and bolting down the street, dodging bullets. He jumped over trashcans and ducked under awnings. Al was close behind, running like the wind, only much louder. They turned about 50 corners and finally came to a street where it looked like they had lost the insane gang. Ed doubled over to catch his breath. He straightened out a crick in his back and looked at his brother. "Do you think we lost them?" he asked.

"Uh, I don't know," said Al. He turned around and quickly pushed his brother forward. "Ed, RUN!" he shouted.

Ed dived just in time to get out of the way of a speeding bullet. He turned his head to laugh at Torre when he felt himself collide with something and then fly into a wall. Torre started laughing and he dropped his gun. Al walked up to him and kicked him in the ass and Torre flew down the street.

Alexandra lay on her back, spread eagled on the ground. Her eyes were closed, but she was still seeing canaries flying around her head. The boy who had crashed into her was lying in font of her face-down. He groaned and rubbed his head and lifted it up slightly, managing to look up Alexandra's skirt. He stared at her black underwear with his mouth open until Yuki noticed.

"Oh my God! Another pervert!" she yelled. She ran over to him and was about to kick him when her leg stopped in mid-air. "What the-"

"Calm down, Yuki," Alexandra said, rubbing her head and sitting up. She hadn't seen what the boy had done. "Ugh, did you have to hit me so hard?" she asked him with a small smile.

"Uh, yeah, sorry about that…I swear I didn't mean to…" he babbled, about both knocking her over and looking up her skirt. Yuki huffed and walked off.

"Nobody appreciates me," she sniffed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone lurking in an alley close by. Her eyes widened. "Roy?!"

"Don't worry, I'm alive and whole…" she said. "For the most part, anyway," she added in a lower voice, looking at her arm.

"Uh, yeah, good…uh…" Ed was at a loss for words.

"What were you doing, anyway?" she asked. Ed stood up and brushed off his sleeve. He had switched his red cloak and usual attire for grey pants, a white collared shirt, and a blue jacket with a fur hood. He had brown gloves on his hands and brown boots. Atop his braided blond hair was a snug white hat.

"I was, uh, running away from these lunatics that called me short. Their leader's name is Torre or something like that," Ed muttered. "Me and my brother lost them, but we just saw them come down the street."

"But…you are short. And where's your brother?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh, here's over there," Ed said, pointing to the alley. He held out his hand and she helped herself up. "Hang on, did you just call me short, too? God! Everyone's against me! Are you people blind or something? I. Am. Not. Short!

"Um, sorry to break it to you, but you _are _short. And I don't see anyone in that alley," she said, squinting. Ed felt a vein in his head throbbing.

"I'M NOT SHORT!" he screamed. "AND MY BROTHER'S WEARING ARMOUR! HE'S LOOKS LIKE A TRASHCAN!"

"You're in fucking denial! You're short! So am I! I can live with it! You should too!" she yelled. "And why the heck is your brother in a suit of armour? Wouldn't it be easier to hide if he took it off?"

"Because-" _Damnit! What can I tell her? _"Uh, didn't you hear that it's the new fad to wear oversized armour?" he asked nervously.

"No. There's no such fad. You're obviously lying," she said coolly. "If you don't want to tell me, just say so!"

"Uh, yeah, I don't want to tell you," he admitted.

"Alright, then," she answered.

Yuki stared at Roy. _What is that fucking pervert doing back here?! I'm going to kick his ass so hard- _Suddenly her eyes darted towards another alley where she saw something moving. She inched closer to the trashcans.

"Is it safe to come out yet?" Al asked, stepping forward.

"Oh my fucking God! Demonic talking trashcan!" Yuki screamed, running away.

"Oh Mother of God and all that is holy," Ed yelled, "they're back!" He looked down the street at the advancing gang. "I think you should go," he said to Alexandra.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well…uh, because these guys are dangerous…" he stuttered.

"I can take care of myself. I can help you, too," she added.

"You? Help me? How do you plan on doing that?"

"I stopped Yuki from kicking you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, right, that wasn't you. She just stopped when you told her to."

"Sure, Yuki wouldn't listen to me if her life depended on it. Trust me, I can help you."

Torre was walking down the street, still looking for the Elric brothers. He couldn't find them, but he did see a girl in a bunny hat apparently trying to hide herself behind a streetlight pole. He walked over to her.

"Uh, you, girlie, have you seen a little short guy and a dude in armour around here?" he asked.

"Uh…could you describe them?" Yuki asked back.

"Well, the first one is short. The second one is wearing armour."

"Wow, you are the master of descriptions." She paused. "Are you by any chance talking about that little guy over there?" she asked, pointing towards Ed and Alexandra.

"Oh, yeah, that's him. Thanks."

"Okay, I suggest we run," Alexandra said.

"I'm with you on that," Ed replied. He grabbed her hand and started running down the street with her. She winced because he had grabbed her auto-mail arm, but she ran along with him. Suddenly they came to a dead end. "Oh, damn," Ed cursed.

"Yeah, this can't be good," Alexandra said. They turned around and saw Torre blocking their way out.

"Ha, ha, I finally found you, you little brat! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find someone as short as you."

"I AM NOT SHORT! I AM NOT SHORT! I AM NOOOOOT SHORT! AHHH!"

"Right," said Torre, "well, I'm gonna kill you anyway. I-" He broke off and stared at Alexandra. "Oh my God…it's you! The little bitch from like 2 years ago! I'll murder you!" He lunged at her and lifted her up by her neck.

"Gah!" she choked. "I…can't…breathe…" She gasped for air and tried to pry his hands away from her. He just gripped her tighter.

"That's the point," Torre sneered cruelly. He was holding her so high that she couldn't use her powers – remember she has to be able to stomp on the ground to activate them. "Looks like I'll only have to get your little friend after this, and there won't be any live witnesses to what happened in that dinky little village of yours!" He was, of course, referring to Alan.

"You…mean…he's still…still alive?" she choked out.

"Unfortunately, yes," said Torre. "But he won't be for long." Torre used his other hand to help choke Alexandra. She was about 20 seconds away from losing consciousness when she heard the boy speak up.

"Hey! Leave her alone! This is between you and me!" he shouted. _Damnit, _he thought, _I can't use alchemy here…oh, well. _He kicked Torre in the shin and Torre dropped Alexandra. Ed dived and caught her.

"Uh, thanks," Alexandra muttered, rubbing her neck and blushing.

"Uh, yeah," Ed answered blushing as well.

Yuki walked over to Roy and kicked him.

"You're such a fucking pervert! Quit following me around!" she screamed. Roy lay twitching on the ground again.

"Look, I was just…" Then he stopped. He stood up slowly and looked Yuki over from head to toe. "I remember who you are! You're-" Yuki stared at him and ran away. "-gone," Roy finished. He had finally recognized her, and now she was gone. _Again. _He was about to run after her when he saw another girl walk by him. She was wearing a miniskirt. His jaw dropped. "Well, hello there babe. Nice skirt. Want to go out sometime?"

"Ew," she said. "Pervert!" She kicked him and walked away. He was left twitching on the ground, _again._

"Ahh!" Alexandra screamed, running away from Torre. "No, get away! Get away!" She repeated, coming to a stop in front of a brick wall. She gulped and turned around, pressing her back against it. Torre came closer with an evil look on his face.

"Sorry, but I have to eliminate all my witnesses," he said meanly. "So, say your prayers, kid, 'cause you're dead." He pulled his revolver out and aimed it at her. Alexandra couldn't use her powers because she was under so much stress. She shut her eyes and tried moving away, but Torre followed her with the gun. He cocked the gun and put pressure on the trigger. "Say goodbye, bitch!"

"No!" Ed and Alexandra screamed at the same time. Ed slid in front of her with his arms out.

"Look, if you want to get her, you'll have to go through me first!" Ed yelled.

"Gladly," Torre said. He fired at Ed. Ed held up his right arm and the bullet bounced off.

"It isn't that easy, buddy. See, I'm bulletproof," Ed explained darkly. Torre stared at him.

"H-how did you do that?" he asked.

"It's a secret. Now, if you'll just hold still for one more second…" Ed stepped forward and aimed a powerful kick at Torre, hitting him square in the jaw with his left foot. He fell to the ground, out cold. With a satisfied smirk, Ed turned to face Alexandra, who looked as if she was about to faint. She was staring at the guy on the ground with fear.

"I…you…" she stuttered, her eyes wide. She covered her mouth with her fists, not able to find any words.

"Are you alright?" Ed asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…yeah…I'm just fine, you know, he only wanted to kill me for the second time in my life…yeah…" she whispered, not taking her hands away.

"Right…well…maybe we should go back to where we were before…" Ed suggested nervously.

"Alright!"

"Where have you been?" Roy asked, seeing Yuki standing in the middle of the street, looking lost.

"Hiding from you! How the hell did you find me?"

"Uh, you're not very cleverly hidden," Roy pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, good point…well, I'm going to go now…" Yuki said, seeing Alexandra coming down the street.

"No! Wait, I have to tell you something," he said, grabbing her hand.

"Let me go, you pervert!" she yelled. He didn't let go.

"No! If you won't listen willingly, I'll have to tell you by force! Come on," he said, dragging her down the street.

"Ah! Alexandra! Come on!" Yuki grabbed Alexandra's hand.

"Ah! Come on, you!" Alexandra shouted, grabbing Ed's hand.

"Yikes! Al, let's go!" Ed yelled, grabbing Al. Now everyone was in a human chain, with Roy leading. When they go to the town square, he stopped and turned around.

"What the fuck? How did all of you get here?" he asked.

"Well," said Yuki, "see, you grabbed my hand, I grabbed her hand, she grabbed his hand, and he grabbed his hand. Yeah."

"Right, so…let go. All of you, except for you," he said pointing to Yuki. Alexandra pried her hand away from Yuki's and she let go of Ed's hand. Ed let go of Al. Roy dragged Yuki off farther. She shot a pleading look at Alexandra, who just shrugged. She looked at Ed.

"Look," he said with a smile, gesturing to the sky, "it's starting to snow."

"Oh…" Alexandra whispered. She looked up and smiled. "I love the snow! It's so pretty!"

"It sure is," Ed agreed. He wasn't looking at the snow, through; he was looking at Alexandra.

"Okay, what the hell do you want?" Yuki asked, staring at Roy.

"I know who you are," Roy said.

"Wow, congrats, do you want a medal? And can I go now?"

"No. You're a former State Alchemist."

"Ugh, why no – hang on, what did you say? How did you know?"

"I was your superior. I know you remember. Ah, those were the good old days…except you never wanted to wear a miniskirt. Even though it was uniform. I remember you jumped out the window to avoid it."

"Yeah, that was me…"

"You know," Alexandra started, "I used to think that snow was made of gold…it shone so brightly when I saw it the first time, I was certain it had to be gold…silly, huh?"

"No," Ed answered, shaking his head. "No, it's not silly at all…I used to think the same thing…"

"Oh…" Alexandra smiled. Al was laughing under his breath quietly. Ed smiled back and kicked his brother. Al fell over. "Um, my name is Alexandra," she said, blushing. "Alexandra Yuuzai. And you are…?"

"Edward. Edward Elric," Ed said quickly. _Oh, no, _he thought. _Damnit! So much for keeping a low profile…she'll definitely recognize me now…_

"Well, Edward…thanks for standing up for me back there…" she said quietly looking at her feet and fidgeting with the ears of her hat.

"Oh, it was nothing," Ed said with a grin. _Well, it's a good thing she doesn't know who I am…_ Al cleared his throat. "Oh, right, this is my brother, Alphonse."

"Al for short," Al piped up. Alexandra smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Al." She held out her hand and he shook it.

"So, is there any place around here where we could stay for the night?" Ed asked hopefully.

"Oh, sure. There's a hostel near by…why don't I take you two there?"

"Sounds great. Come on, Al!"

"Right behind you, brother."

"Well then, what now?" Roy asked.

"What do you mean, 'what now'? I'm going home, that's what!" Yuki yelled, walking away.

"But I thought you wanted to go out with me!" Roy shouted after her.

"Dream on, pervert," Yuki muttered.

"Well, here it is," Alexandra said, stopping in front of the hostel. "I guess I'll see you guys around. Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, just here to relax," Ed answered truthfully. "Although there hasn't been much relaxation so far." Alexandra laughed.

"Here, hopefully this will make you feel better." She put her hand over Ed's and put something in it, then walked off with Yuki, who had caught up with them just as they had made it to the hostel.

xxXxx

"Ah, we're finally home," Alexandra said blissfully, walking down the corridor.

"Yeah, finally," Yuki said. She pulled out the key to the apartment and was about to put it into the lock when she saw a paper stuck to their door.

"What's this?" Alexandra asked, pulling it off and scanning it. "'Notice of Eviction'. … Yuki, did you remember to send the rent for this month?"

"Umm…about that…" Yuki said nervously.

"YUKI!" Alexandra screamed.

xxXxx

Edward was lying on his bed, staring at what Alexandra had given him.

"Mmm…" he mused, closing his eyes. "Alexandra…Alex," he muttered absently. Al looked over at his brother.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Huh?" Ed's eyes shot open. "What? Nothing's wrong…" A smile played across his face.

"Okay then…what did that girl give you anyway?" Ed held out his hand to show Al.

It really wasn't much. It was hardly the size of a pebble, but really, it was so cute that she had offered it to him. In his palm lay two small brightly wrapped candies. And right when she had given them to him, she had whispered, "Welcome to our town, Edward Elric."


	5. Learning to Skate

A/N:

Me: Well, hey everyone…not much to say. Ed?

Ed: What?

Me: Do it!

Ed: NO!

Me: DO IT:K

Ed: Fine! God! FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

Me: Good Ed. :3 –gives cookie-

Yuki: I want a cookie!

Me: No cookie for you.

Yuki: -uncontrollably sobs-

Roy: -comes and comforts Yuki-

Yuki: AHH! GET AWAY! –runs off-

Roy: -chases-

Me: O.o; Okay. Back to the story.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 5: Learning to Skate**

Yuki and Alexandra sat on the curb in front of their old apartment looking dejected.

"This is all your fault!" Alexandra said, her head resting on her knees.

"You're not helping," Yuki said, staring at nothing.

"This is all your fault," Alexandra repeated.

"Oh my fucking God! Shut up already!" Yuki yelled. "You know, instead of blaming the first person you see, you could be doing something helpful! Like figuring out where we'll sleep tonight!"

"That's easy. We'll go to the hostel," Alexandra said. "I still can't believe you forgot to send the rent. Where are we going to live?" Before Yuki would answer, someone shouted from above.

"Yo! Look out below, dudes!" Suddenly they heard a whooshing sound and they saw their couch hurtling towards them.

"AH!" Yuki screamed, jumping up and running around in circles. "They're killing our stuff! I paid for that stuff! Ahh!"

"Ugh, calm down," Alexandra muttered. She tapped her foot on the ground and caught the couch, then set it down in front of her.

"Oh, no!" Yuki screamed again. "Here come the beds!" Alexandra rolled her eyes and easily caught both, then set them top on top of each other next to the couch. "Ah! Now the fridge! And the stove! And the phone! And-"

"Oh, shut up! I see them!" Alexandra snapped, catching each thing and placing it gently on the ground.

"And there's – wait, what is that? A book? They already threw the bookcase down…and what the fuck? A _piano? _We didn't even _have _a piano!" she yelled.

"Oh my fucking God. Shut up. I've got it!" Alexandra shouted over Yuki's babbling. She was just about to set the piano down when she saw the book. "No!" she screamed, getting up. "My diary!" She dropped the piano, which crashed to the ground loudly, splintering to pieces. Then she reached both her hands out and stopped her diary from hitting the ground. After catching it she stuffed it into her belt and exhaled. "Thank the Lord…it almost hit the ground."

"Almost…hit…are you fucking insane?! You just completely destroyed a piano! You could have _killed _me!" Yuki spazzed, her eye twitching.

"Yeah, yeah, but you're alive. Let's go."

xxXxx

"What do you _mean _you don't have any more rooms?" Alexandra shouted at the defenseless man behind the check-in counter. "This is a fucking hostel! I thought you had rooms to fit this entire town!"

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, miss…b-but w-we really d-don't have a-any m-more r-r-rooms," he stuttered, cowering under his desk. Alexandra felt a vein in her head throbbing.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. What are we going to do now? Yuki doesn't even care…look at her over there, hiding behind that plant…wait, what?! What is she doing?!_

Yuki hid behind the tall plant in the corner, watching Roy reading something outside. Her eyes narrowed. "I will get you, Roy Mustang. You and your little magazine too," she cackled evilly. Alexandra shook her head.

_I seriously need to get some help for her. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, screaming at this poor guy… _"Look, mister, you have to help us…we got evicted out of our apartment and we have no place to stay. Please, please, please help us, mister?" she asked with her cutest possible expression. The manager's face softened.

"Look, miss, the only way I could help you would be if someone offered to share their room with you. I don't know how many people would like to stay with a stranger," he told her.

"Oh, we wouldn't mind," said a voice from behind her. She spun around and found herself looking into the golden eyes of one Edward Elric.

"Edward!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Hey Alexandra. Nice to see you too," he added, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I hear you have some apartment problems."

"Yeah. S_omeone,_"she stared pointedly at Yuki, "forgot to send out this month's rent, and we got evicted." Yuki didn't notice. She was busy spying on Roy.

"Well, we'd be glad to share our room with you," Ed told her. "Right, Al?"

"Huh? Oh, of course. We'd be glad to share our room with you after you helped us," Al said.

"Thanks, guys!" Alexandra exclaimed, hugging Al. Al giggled at her and hugged back. Of course, it was sort of weird hugging someone in armour, but she didn't mind. She pulled away and Ed half expected for her to hug him too. His was disappointed though, because she didn't. "Um, do you think you'll be able to fit Yuki too?" she asked, pointing over her shoulder to the girl behind the plant.

"We have two beds," Ed explained. "We should be able-"He stopped when Al nudged him in the side. "Uh, on second thought, Al sort of takes up an entire bed…"

"Your little brother takes up that much space?" Alexandra asked.

"Yeah, well – wait, how did you know he was my _little _brother? Most people assume the opposite; they think he's my older brother!" Ed exclaimed.

"It's simple, really…your voice is deeper than his, and you seem to be ordering him around more than he orders you." She shrugged. "It was just a guess."

_Wow, that's impressive…not many people realize that…_

"So, what about Yuki?" Alexandra asked herself quietly.

"Paha! Roy, you are so going to regret you saw me again!" Yuki mumbled under her breath. Suddenly Roy walked inside. "Huh? No, no, no! Retreat! Retreat! Ahh!"

"Uh, hey," said Roy, seeing Alexandra. "You're not going to hit me again, are you?" he asked.

"Huh? No, no, I'm not. I don't really think you're a pervert. Just a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time." She smiled at him. "So what's new?"

"Oh, not much…Yuki's just been spying on me since you guys got here. Why _are _you here, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, Yuki forgot to send this month's rent, so we got evicted from our apartment. I'm going to stay with Edward and Al. Unfortunately, there's no room for Yuki."

A/N:

I realize that Roy, Ed, and Al being in the same town at the same time seems like there's some sort of plan happening. I assure you, right now, there's not. If they ever come up with something, I _will _say so. Otherwise it'd just be plain confusing. ; Right now, they're just on holiday.

End A/N.

"Oh, she could stay with me," said Roy. "I've got two beds in my room."

"Oh, that's awesome. Thanks!" Alexandra said. Suddenly Yuki ran over.

"What the fuck is going on here? Why are you talking to this pervert?" she demanded, poking Roy's side.

"Well," said Alexandra. "Funny story about that. See, there's no rooms left in the hostel, so I'm staying with Ed and Al. But, there's only room for me, so you're staying with Roy! Isn't that splendid?"

"What the fuck! No! It's not splendid! It's hell on earth! Why do I have to sleep with this pervert?" she cried.

"Um, because? Anyway, I'm taking Ed and Al on a tour of town. I'll see you later," Alexandra said, walking away and waving at Yuki. Ed and Al followed her.

"TRAITOR!" Yuki screamed. "I HATE YOU!" Alexandra laughed and ran out.

xxXxx

"Well, the nicest place around here during winter is the park…so let's start there!" Alexandra said, pulling the two along the now-snow covered streets. They passed tons of shops and stores along the way, and whenever someone saw Alexandra, they waved and said hi. She always waved back and smiled at them.

"Wow, you know a lot of people," Ed commented.

"I think it's more that they know me," she said. "I sing at church, in our local bar, and I work part time in a candy shop. That reminds me, I have to go to work tomorrow. Oh, here we are!" She stopped in front of a wooden gate and let go of the brothers.

"Where are we?" Al asked.

"The park, of course. Come on…let's go skating! The pond is frozen over!" she suggested.

"But, we don't have skates," Ed pointed out.

"Oh, that's okay, they rent skates. Let's go!"

xxXxx

"Where do you think you're going?" Roy asked, seeing Yuki trying to tiptoe away from him.

"Uh, nowhere…" said Yuki, still moving away.

"No, seriously, where are you going?"

"Nowhere!"

"Uh-huh. And where is this 'nowhere'?"

"Um…over…there…" Yuki muttered, pointing to the plant in the corner. Roy took the bait and looked that way. Yuki spotted her chance and bolted to the door and ran through the streets like a lunatic, screaming, "I'M FREE, I'M FREE!"

xxXxx

"Uh, I think there's one thing I forgot to mention," Alexandra said. Ed looked down at her lying on the ice.

"Oh? What's that?" he asked.

"I can't skate!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's sort of obvious, since you're sort of not standing," he laughed.

"Well, you _could_ help me up!" she said to him. Ed smiled and held his hand out for her, and she quickly grabbed it and used it to pull herself upright. Her knees wobbled and she had to throw her hands around his neck to keep herself from falling over. Now she was basically hugging him. She looked up into his eyes and blushed. So did Ed.

"Uh, skating isn't that hard. You want me to teach you?" he asked. She nodded silently. "Okay, first off, you're going to have to let go of me…" She quickly removed her arms, but grabbed onto his hand instead.

"Alright, what now?" she asked.

"Well, skating is basically walking on ice. Go on, take a few steps," he told her.

"Right, okay, a few steps." She started forward on the ice, still hanging onto him. Three steps later, she slipped and fell again, bringing Ed down on top of her.

"Wow, you really _can't _skate," he said.

"Seriously, if you weren't on top of me, I'd kill you," she muttered. Ed blinked and got off of her, then pulled her up by her waist. He brushed off her hat and her skirt and smiled at her. She blinked at him and blushed, seeing how close together they were. Ed suddenly realized the same thing and blushed too, and his smile faded. Then Alexandra gave him her cutest smile and grabbed his hand again.

"D-do you want to try again?" he asked quietly. She nodded.

"Sure, but can I hold onto you?" she asked softly.

"Sure."

xxXxx

"Damnit!" Yuki shouted. "I didn't know you could run so fast! Give me another beer." The bartender opened up a bottle and handed it to the girl. She chugged it down and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you would jump over that fence," Roy muttered. He was now sporting a black eye. "Give me another beer, too." Yuki finished her beer.

"'Nother one!" she slurred.

"Uh, isn't that like your twelfth one?" Roy asked.

"What's your point?" Yuki asked, drinking down the next bottle.

"Oh, nothing," Roy answered, also drinking his beer.

"Exactly."

"God, I didn't expect you to follow me this far."

"Yeah, well, I didn't expect to run into a fence while following you, either." She chugged down _another _beer. "Uh, maybe you should stop with the beer."

"Maybe you should stop being such a pervert." Roy slapped his forehead. Yuki hiccupped and slammed her head against the counter. "Maybe I should stop on the beer," she commented, sitting up and resting her head on Roy's shoulder.

"Huh?" Roy snapped into reality again. "Yuki, what-"

"Roy, you are such a persistent bastard," she whispered. Then she passed out.

xxXxx

After a lot of falling, slipping, tripping, and landing on each other, Ed and Alexandra had finally made some progress. Alexandra was able to stand up on the ice alone and skate with some help from Ed.

"Wow, Ed, thanks for teaching me to skate," she said with a blush.

"No problem," Ed said, looking at Al. "Hey, look over there!" Al was doing pirouettes and jumps and figure eights on the ice all over the place.

"Hey brother! Look at me, I'm skating! I'm skat-" Suddenly the ice started to crack and Al fell through into the cold water. Alexandra's eyes widened.

"Oh my God! Will he be alright?" she asked.

"Al! Al!" Ed shouted. They skated over to the gaping hole and peered inside. "How are we going to get him out?"

"Um…I have an idea," Alexandra said. "Hey, look over there!" She pointed to a tree. Ed looked at it.

"Huh?" Alexandra quickly stomped on the ice and threw Al out of the water. Ed looked back at her. "What? How the hell did you do that?" Ed asked, staring from her to his brother. "He was just in the water!"

"Uh, I dunno…I'm strong?" She laughed nervously and tapped her fingers together.

"Right…"

"Guys, look!" Alexandra pointed to the sky. It was dark already. "We should go back to the hostel."

"Yeah, we should," Ed agreed, helping Al up off the ground. They headed out of the park together.

xxXxx

Roy had hailed a taxi to take him and Yuki back to the hostel. She was still unconscious, and he had to carry her out. Soon enough, the taxi dropped them off in front of their quarters and Roy carried Yuki to his room. He laid her gently on the bed and then fell asleep himself.

xxXxx

By the time Ed, Al and Alexandra got back to their room, it was really late, and they were all tired. Al dropped onto his bed and fell asleep immediately. Alexandra dropped onto the second bed and Ed fell down next to her. They were too tired to even take off their clothes, so they fell asleep like that.

It looked like each one of them had made a new friend.


	6. Shopping!

A/N:

Me: HI EVERYONE! –one a sugar high-

Ed: Yo, whassup?

Me: Aw, Ed, I love you:3

Ed: Well, I love Alexandra ;

Me: OKAY! BACK TO THE STORY! ED!

Ed: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 6: Shopping!**

Ed jerked awake the next morning and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked and sat up then looked around the small room. Al was still asleep, but Alexandra wasn't in the room.

"Alex? Alexandra?" Ed asked, getting up. When he saw the window open he freaked out and ran into the hall. "OH MY FUCKING GOD! ALEXANDRA'S BEEN KIDNAPPED! AHH!" In his insanity, Ed ran into Roy in the lobby.

"Oh, hey, Ed," said Roy. "What's up? I'm getting some medicine for Yuki. My guess is that she's going to have a splitting headache when she wakes up."

"IT'S ALEXANDRA!" Ed screamed. "SHE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!" Ed waved his arms in the air.

"STOP SHOUTING!" Roy yelled in Ed's ear. "I'm off."

"You! Manager! Where's Alexandra?" Ed asked the guy at the front desk when Roy left.

"Oh, she's working today. At the local sweet shop…you should check it out if you haven't already. All the candy is hand made, and Alexandra makes most of it. Oh, excuse me." The man walked over to a couple that was checking in.

_Well, _Ed thought, _that makes sense…she did say she was working today. _He shrugged and grabbed a map off the wall and headed outside in search of the infamous candy store.

xxXxx

"Morning, kid," said Roy. Yuki was just waking up. She rubbed her eyes and stared at him.

"What the fuck? What am I doing here? How did I get here? Where am I? What is that?" She paused. "AND WHY DOES MY HEAD FEEL LIKE IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE?" she shouted. She started crying and covered herself in her blanket. Roy rolled his eyes and ripped it off of her.

"You were sleeping, I brought you here, you're in my hostel room, and this is the hangover medicine you're going to drink if you want to stop that headache from getting worse. The headache is from drinking 12 beers, 5 martinis, and almost 20 shots." She grabbed the cup right away and chugged it down.

"Oh, this is disgusting! I promise that I'll never drink again!" she exclaimed.

_Yeah right…'never' probably means 'I'll be drinking again in 3 days. _"Well, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like I'm dying," she moaned, burying her face in her pillow.

xxXxx

Ed finally walked into the small shop, after about half an hour of searching the town, causing the tiny bell above the door to tinkle. Alexandra looked up from her book. She had a lollipop in her mouth.

"Oh, hey Ed!" she said with a smile. She closed her book and wiped off her colourful apron. "Can I get you anything, sir?"

"Um…sir?" Ed asked with an amused expression on his face. He walked over to the counter and leaned against it.

"Company policy requires me to call you sir. Or would you prefer madam?" she asked jokingly.

"No, no, sir is fine." He grinned. "So what can I get for five dollars?"

"Well, let's see…lollipops, hard candies, soft candies, chocolates…need I go on?" She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No, that's enough. Can I have a lollipop?" he asked.

"Sure! What flavour?" She turned around and scanned the shelf. "We have raspberry, blueberry, apple, orange, watermelon-" Suddenly Ed cut her off.

"I'll have a raspberry and save you from wasting your breath." He slid 50 cents across the counter towards her. She handed the lollipop to him and pushed the money back.

"It's on the house," she told him with a wink and a smile. He grinned.

"Awesome!" He stuffed the candy in his mouth and he looked exactly like she did. She grinned. Suddenly the doorbell tinkled again and a bunch of kids ran into the shop.

"Miss Alexandra!" the leader shouted. "Miss Alexandra, we're here with our allowances!" the little boy exclaimed happily. He was the tallest of the group, yet he could hardly see over the top of the counter.

"Well, Jason, I'm glad you came! What can I get you?" she asked, a big smile spreading over her lips.

_Oh God, _Ed thought, _that smile is so cute! It makes me want to smile._

"We'd like 5 blueberry lollipops, 3 soft candies, and 7 chocolates!" the boy ordered.

"My, that's a big order! You must be rolling in money!" she said, still smiling. She quickly rounded up what he had requested and placed it on the counter in front of him. "That's 3 dollars and 20 cents! Do you have that much?"

"Of course!" one of the other little boys piped up proudly. They laid their money on the counter and Alexandra dropped it in the register. She leaned over and ruffled the boy named Jason's hair affectionately.

"Enjoy!" she told them. They grinned and ran out. Ed smiled at her.

"Looks like you get a lot of eager customers, huh?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. All the kids around here love candy…and for some reason, they love calling me 'Miss Alexandra'. They're pretty cute," she added. The bell rang again and she looked up. A young girl and boy walked in, with huge smiles on their faces. They both wore tattered clothes and looked at bit ragged, but they were happy nonetheless.

"Hello, Miss Alex!" they sang in unison.

"Hi Susie, hi Martin!" she sang back, walking out from behind the counter. They ran over and hugged her.

"How are you today?" Susie asked with an angelic smile.

"I'm great," Alexandra answered, patting Susie's head.

"We came to get some candy! Our mother gave us some money!" Martin shouted, holding out a few dollars.

"Well, Martin, choose wisely," Alexandra advised, ruffling his hair. He grinned up at her.

"I want an orange lollipop!" he decided after a few seconds.

"And I want an apple one!" Susie added.

"Coming right up!" Alexandra said, giving the two their treats. "And here, have these, too," she told them, handing each a few hard candies. "Enjoy!" Both she and Ed smiled as the siblings' faces lit up. They thanked Alexandra and ran out. Ed stared at her for a second.

_God, she's as sweet as the candy she sells! _He thought to himself. He leaned against the counter again. "You know, it's really nice of you to give those kids that candy," he remarked casually.

"Well, they're poor. Their mother only scrapes together about 100 dollars a week. I think it's my duty to give them something for being so patient and polite through what's happening to them," she explained. Before Ed could answer, Alexandra glanced at the clock. "Uh oh, it's 12:00…you might want to get behind the counter." Ed raised an eyebrow and walked over to stand next to her.

"Why?" he asked. As if on cue, a stampede of people rushed in through the door, bursting into the shop and grabbing candy off the shelves, then lining up in front of the cash register.

"That's why," she whispered. He blinked. "Noon rush hour…anyway, do you think you could help me out here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course…"

xxXxx

By this time, Al had woken up and was faced with a cold and empty room. He started to panic.

"Where did everybody go?" he wailed, on the verge of throwing a tantrum.

xxXxx

"Feeling any better?" Roy asked, peering at Yuki through the covers.

"No," Yuki muttered at him, her face in her pillow. There was a slight pause, and she added, "I hate you."

"What did I do?" Roy asked, annoyed.

"You got me drunk, that's what!" she shouted, her voice muffled.

"I told you to lay of the beer!" he protested. "You didn't listen to me!"

"I hate you anyway." Roy sighed.

"I give up," he mumbled.

xxXxx

"Well, my shift ends in two hours," Alexandra said, flicking some hair from her eyes. "Then we can get out of here."

"Thank God," Ed muttered from his spot on the floor. She laughed and looked down at him.

"It's wasn't _that _bad!" she exclaimed with a smile. Ed stared at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He had shed his jacket and was now lying in his white collared shirt. She rolled her eyes and turned around, walking past the shelves towards the back room. She stepped into it and looked around. She hadn't noticed a crate was teetering precariously in its spot atop another crate, high above her. The vibrations of her footsteps were enough to dislodge it further, and before she could do anything, it fell, right onto her bad arm. She screamed out in pain and dropped to her knees, cradling the injured limb. The crate had undone the clasps on the brace, so her auto-mail wasn't in place. It hurt like hell.

"Wha? What is it?" Ed asked frantically, running into the room and kneeling down next to her. He had heard her scream and had to find out what was wrong. "What happened? Is it your arm?" She nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "Here, let me see," he said gently. Alexandra hesitated. She didn't want to show him her auto-mail. Luckily, only the clasps were undone, and the metal wasn't visible. She held it out for him. He pulled up her sleeve and looked at the brace. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's…it's a brace. My arm is weak," Alexandra lied. She shut her eyes as Ed twisted it and looked at it from all angles.

"Oh…" Ed said quietly. He quickly fastened the clasps and pulled her sleeve back down. "Does it feel okay now?"

"Yeah," Alexandra replied. She exhaled. "Thanks."

"No problem," Ed said with a smile.

xxXxx

"Come _on _Roy! We have to make it to the next 20 stores before they close!" Yuki exclaimed, dragging the poor man down the sidewalk with her.

"But you already have, like, 50 cosplay hats! Why do you need more?" he asked.

"Because it's fun!" she shouted.

xxXxx

"What do you think of this one?" Alexandra asked.

"I dunno," Ed answered. "I think it's too big."

"Okay…how about this one?"

"That one's too small."

Alexandra had pulled Ed and Al along house shopping. They were in one of those show homes, where miniature models of houses were on display. They were scrutinizing each one carefully, making sure that they would choose right. Alexandra was going to make the house a gift to Yuki, since Yuki had let her stay in her apartment for so long.

A/N:

I'm going to skip ahead here, because I don't think you want to hear all the torture the girls are putting the guys through. Fast-forward back to the hostel:3

End A/N.

Yuki collapsed onto her bed, exhausted from all the running around and choosing outfits. Roy had been forced to carry all her shopping bags and now dropped them on the ground. He fell back onto his bed and fell asleep right away.

"Hey, Roy? Thanks for helping me out today…I know it was probably really boring, but thanks. You're really sweet." All she got for an answer was snoring. She sat up and looked at Roy. "Well, good thing you didn't hear that."

xxXxx

"Well, that was an interesting day," Ed commented, sitting down on the easy chair in one corner of the room. Al nodded and sat down on his bed.

"Yeah, it was fun," he agreed.

"Oh, and thanks for the free candy, Alex," Ed added, leaning back. Alexandra shut the door and looked at Ed.

"Alex? Hmm…I like it. And no problem," she said with a smile. She quickly scanned the room, since the night before she had only seen the bed in the dark. There was a piano by the small window. "I didn't know there was a piano in here!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I didn't either," Al said. "But I can't play, so it doesn't matter to me."

"Neither can I," Ed admitted.

"Well, I can," Alexandra said quietly. "Would you guys like to hear something?"

"Oh, yeah," Ed replied, sitting up straight. "Right, Al?"

"Sure!" his brother said.

"Okay…" Alexandra sat down at the piano and did a short warm up, after which she stretched her fingers and placed them on the keys. At once, she began playing Beethoven's Fur Elise, slowly and clearly. Ed and Al listened, lost in the music. Alexandra finished the piece soon after that and she looked towards them.

"Wow," Ed whispered, "that was amazing!" Al started clapping.

"Oh, thanks," Alexandra murmured, her cheeks turning pink. "Anyway, I think I'll go take a shower…I'm tired." She stood up and walked towards the bathroom, but stopped about halfway as she realized something. She had left all her clothes in her wardrobe, and that was in the bank vault, and the bank was closed! She looked back at the brothers. "Um, do you think I could borrow a shirt from one of you? To sleep in?" she asked, embarrassed. Ed looked at Al for a second.

"Yeah, sure, you can have one of mine," the blonde said, standing up and walking over to his suitcase. He shuffled through it and came out with a blue collared shirt, which he handed to her. "Here."

"Thanks, Ed!"

XxXxx

A few hours later, the three roommates lay in bed still but not sleeping. Al was staring up at the ceiling in his bed, and Ed and Alexandra were looking away from each other in theirs. Finally, Alexandra got a bit too restless, and stood up to walk over to the window. She leaned against the still and stared out at the full moon. Soon after that, Ed and Al got up to stand next to her.

"You can't sleep either?" Ed asked.

"No," said Al. Alexandra stayed quiet. She fingered the small silver locket that hung around her neck. Ed noticed.

"What's that?" he asked quietly. Alexandra rubbed her eyes and opened the small charm. She showed it to Ed.

"It's my mom," she whispered, gesturing to the small picture nestled in the frame. Al looked over, and she held it out to him, too. "God, I miss her so much," she said softly, sliding down the wall and sitting on the ground, feeling tears running down her cheeks. Ed looked down at her sadly and kneeled next to her. Al did the same.

"We miss our mom, too," Al said quietly. Ed nodded. He sat down next to Alexandra and put an arm around her shoulders hesitantly. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes again.

"I can't sleep…do you want to hear a lullaby? It's one my mom used to sing for me when I couldn't sleep." They nodded. She closed her eyes and began to sing. "Hush little baby; mama's near, to brush your hair and calm your fears. To kiss your cheek and hold your hand, 'til you drift off to sleepyland. To help you count those little white sheep, and sing you songs 'til you're asleep. To tell you tales of kings and queens, of Jack and Jill and wonderful things." She paused to yawn and rested her head on Ed's shoulder. "So snuggle up and hold me tight, and dream sweet dreams all through the night. And every night when the sun goes down, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town." When she finished, Al and Ed were already sleeping. Alexandra smiled at them, then closed her eyes and fell asleep against Ed.


	7. House and Home

A/N:

Me: Well…hey.

Ed: You sound enthusiastic. . 

Alexandra: -slides in-

Ed: HEY! -hugs-

Alexandra: HEY!

Me: Ugh. Anyway.

Ed and Alexandra: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 7: House and Home**

Ed woke up the next morning feeling very warm, despite being on the floor without a blanket. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and realized that Alexandra had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled and rested his chin against her forehead. Al snickered quietly.

"What? Al, are you awake?" Ed hissed, trying hard not to wake the girl up.

"Yeah, and it looks like you are, too," Al whispered back, trying hard not to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ed demanded in a low voice.

"I think you like her!" Al said to him.

"I swear to God if she wasn't lying on me I'd kill you!" Ed half-yelled.

xxXxx

_(Much, much later)_

"Oh my God!" Yuki screamed. "A house! A real house! You bought a real house!"

"Uh, yeah," Alexandra said with a smile. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I absolutely love it!" Yuki shouted hysterically.

"Well, good. Here, it's a spare set of keys. Go choose a room. I'm off."

"What? Where are you going?"

"To work! Where else?"

"Oh, right. I'll see you later!"

xxXxx

Alexandra wandered back towards the hostel. She walked inside and asked the manager where the Elric brothers were; he told her that they were still in their room. She thanked him and ran off to look for them. She burst into their room unexpectedly.

"Hey, guys!" she shouted happily.

"Hey, Alex," Ed responded with a smile.

"Hey!" Al exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to take you guys to church. Now, come on!" She grabbed each one by the arm and dragged them outside.

"What? Church? You've got to be kidding!" Ed shouted, trying to stop himself from being dragged along. _Whoa, her left arm is so strong! _Al didn't mind. He let himself be taken along.

A few minutes later, they were in the church. Alexandra seated them in the front row and ran off to the back, where she changed into her choir robe. There seemed to be something wrong. The priest looked frazzled, and the altar servers looked annoyed. Alexandra walked over to them and asked what was wrong.

"Oh, our reader didn't show up today," the priest explained. "I don't know who I can get at such short notice! Mass starts in a few minutes!"

"Oh, that is a problem," Alexandra muttered, biting her finger. The three walked out to the front. As soon as Ed saw Alexandra he ran up to her.

"Look, Alex, I don't think-"

"Oh, you, young man! Thank you for volunteering to read for today's mass. Here, here's the reading for today's mass," the priest said quickly, before Ed could protest.

"What?" a bewildered Ed asked as the man walked away. Alexandra laughed.

"Well, looks like you're stuck with it!" she told him.

xxXxx

"Oh God, it's finally over," Ed breathed, falling to his knees outside. "I didn't think I'd get out of there alive."

"It wasn't that bad!" Al said.

"Yes it was! Everyone was staring at me!" Ed yelled. "I hated it!"

"Well, Alexandra, you sang beautifully," Al told her, ignoring his brother.

"Oh, thanks," Alexandra whispered, blushing.

"Yeah, you did sing beautifully," Ed said.

"Thanks, guys…hey, are you hungry? Let's go grab a bite at Yuki's!"

"Ed is always hungry," Al laughed. Ed grinned.

"'Tis true."

xxXxx

"Well, we're here!" Alexandra exclaimed, running into the café and to the counter. She looked around and saw the small bell that was labeled 'Ring for Service'. She smiled and rang it. Nobody came. She rang it again. Still, nobody came. She started ringing it over and over and over until even Ed and Al were laughing. Finally, after about 3 minutes, Yuki came out of the back room.

"God, I'm here, I'm here! Calm down!" she yelled. Alexandra kept ringing the bell happily. "I SAID STOP!" Yuki screamed. Alexandra ignored her and this caused Ed to laugh even harder. Al had no breath left, but he was still wheezing instead of laughing. "What the hell are you laughing at, small fry?" she asked viciously. Ed stopped laughing.

"Who are you calling a pipsqueak so small you can't see him through a magnifying glass?!" he screamed at her over the counter.

"Calm down, Ed!" Al pleaded. Alexandra stopped playing with the bell.

"I didn't say that, but it's pretty accurate!" Yuki yelled to his face.

"Well you're not a giant yourself!" Ed spat.

"No, but I'm taller then you!" Yuki shouted.

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Alexandra screamed. "Yuki, shut up! Get us our orders! Two slices of chocolate cake and two cookies! And you, Ed! Stop it! I'm just as short as you are!" The three others were stunned into silence as Alexandra stood there, fuming. She stalked over to a table by the window and sat down. Yuki blinked and went to get what she asked for. Ed and Al shuffled to sit down next to her.

"Wow…" Al whispered. "I could never get Ed to shut up that quickly."

"You've got a gift," Ed said, leaning back in his chair. She rolled her eyes as Yuki brought their food. Ed's eyes widened. "Food!" he shouted. He grabbed one of the cakes and shoved it into his mouth.

"Are you hungry or something?" Alexandra asked.

"No, he just likes to eat," Al replied. Ed nodded and wolfed down the rest of the food, aside from one cookie that Alexandra managed to grab for herself. She offered it to Al.

"Would you like this?" she asked.

"Oh, no thanks," Al answered.

"Okay then, Ed, you want it?" she asked. Ed blinked.

_After she saw me wolf down all that, she's offering me more? She's so sweet. _He smiled at her. "No thanks, you have it."

"Okay!" She grinned at him.

Colonel Roy Mustang walked through the door and collapsed in a chair in a corner of the café, opened his newspaper, and started reading without a word. Yuki grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil and ran over to him.

"Good morning, sir, may I take your – what the hell are you doing here?" She had just realized that the patron was indeed Roy.

"Excuse me?" Roy said with a cool smile. "Is that any way to speak to a customer?"

"You're not worthy to be a customer! You're vermin! You're-"

"Is there a problem, Miss Aurion?" a deep voice asked from behind her. Yuki froze. It was the manager.

"Oh, no, sir," Yuki replied quickly.

"Did you take this man's order?" he asked firmly.

"I was just about to, sir." She looked at Roy. "Well, sir, is there anything I can get you, sir? Because, as a waitress, sir, I'm to ask you how I can help you, sir, even though I have other ideas, sir!" she told Roy through clenched teeth. Her eye began to twitch. The manager smiled and walked away.

"Don't blow a gasket, Yuki," Roy said casually, leaning back and folding his newspaper. "I'll have a coffee, and make it black."

"Yes, sir," she muttered, hurrying away quickly. Then she added, "I hope you die."

xxXxx

Ed, Al and Alexandra walked absently towards the park, kicking up snow as they went. They came to a stop by the pond. Al sat down cross-legged on the ground and Ed leaned against a tree. Alexandra walked to the shore and stood right where the ice met the ground. She stared out at the shining surface, her eyes sparkling.

"What's on your mind, Alex?" Ed asked curiously, seeing her so happy.

"Well…" She turned around to face them with a smile on her face.

"I was wondering if you two would like to live with us…I bought us a new house, and there's more than enough room to fit everyone." She paused and smiled even more at seeing the looks of surprise on their faces. "Well?" Ed and Al were quiet for a long time. Alexandra took this the wrong way. Her smile faded. "Okay, I know, it was a dumb offer…anyway, I should go home…Yuki wanted to tell me something," she lied, turning around and walking off to the exit of the park. _What was I expecting? That they would say yes? They hardly know me…just because I like Ed, doesn't mean – no, no. I don't like Ed. I don't like Ed. I _don't _like Ed! _Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"We'd love to live with you, Alex," Ed said, grabbing her arm to stop her. She turned to face him and saw his smiling face. She smiled as well. His hand slid down her arm unobtrusively and he lightly brushed her hand with his fingers. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "So can we see this new house of ours?"

"Yeah," said Al, "let's go see it!"

"Okay, sure!" she replied, smiling at them both. She took each one's hand and started off through the snow. They laughed and joked with each other until they got there, enjoying the thought of being room mates. Alexandra's cheeks were flushed, and her smile never faltered. It's wasn't because of the cold weather.

_Well, _she thought, _maybe I do like Edward…just a bit…_


	8. Confessions

A/N:

Me: Well, I have a bit more enthusiasm now. :D

Ed: Yesss!  
Me: Yeah, so enthusiastic, in fact, that I'll call you a shorty. :D

Ed: I AM NOT A SHRIMP SO TINY THAT YOU CAN STEP ON ME WITHOUT NOTICING! -fumes-

Me: Ha! Hahahaha.

Alexandra: Anyway. FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

Me: OKAY! Oh, and I'd like to thank Firststep that pointed out to me that I rated this fic M. I changed it, seeing as it wasn't supposed to be M in the first place.

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 8: Confessions**

"Well, what do you think?" Alexandra asked when they were standing in front of the mansion. Ed and Al were lying on the ground next to her, passed out from disbelief. "Uh, guys?" Alexandra blinked and looked around. On a sudden impulse, she glanced down and saw their bodies lying on top of one another. Her eyes widened. "OH MY GOD, THEY'RE DEAD! AHH!" she screamed, running circles around them. After about five seconds they snapped out of their coma and Alexandra tripped over Ed's outstretched arm. She went flying into a snow bank and Ed got up.

"No, we're not dead!" he shouted in an attempt to calm her down.

"OH MY GOD, THEY'RE ZOMBIES!" she screamed, shivering and standing up.

"No, no!" Ed yelled. He grabbed her arm, a bit too tightly. She stopped her idiotic ranting when she registered the pain. She clenched her teeth.

"Ow! That hurts! Let go, let go!" she hissed, trying to snatch her wrist away. Ed let go.

"Uh, sorry…um, let's go inside, okay?" he suggested nervously.

"Yeah, sure," Alexandra said quietly, rubbing her wrist. _God, that hurt! But he's done it before, why does it hurt all of a sudden?_ "You guys have to go choose your rooms!" She smiled. "They're upstairs! Go on!"

"Oh, we get our own rooms?" Al asked. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, run! Fight over the best one!" she encouraged. The brothers glanced at each other and sped off.

xxXxx

"Hey Yuki, how was work?" Alexandra asked, strolling into the living room and flopping onto the easy chair upside-down, her hat touching the floor.

"Shut up," was Yuki's simple reply.

"Sounds like fun. So how was handling Roy?"

"What? How did you know about him?"

"Oh, please, I heard you yelling half a block away."

"It was torture."

"Oh, I'm sure you don't hate him all that much."

"Are you crazy?! Of course I do! And more!"

"Oh, that's not good…"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I invited him for dinner tonight."

"You WHAT?!"

"Yeah. You'd better behave, or I'm going to have to throw you out of the house."

"You can't do that!" Yuki protested, standing up suddenly.

"Try me," Alexandra responded lazily, yawning. Yuki opened her mouth and closed it a few times, resembling a fish without water. Finally she turned on her heel and walked upstairs to her room. She bumped into Ed along the way, and as pissed as she was, she kicked him out of her way.

"Move it, shrimp!" she shouted, slamming her door shut.

"What's eating her?" Ed asked Al. Al shrugged.

"Maybe she's angry?"

"No shit." He scratched his head, thinking, when all of a sudden, his expression changed completely. "Shrimp? Who the hell are you calling a shrimp?!" he screamed at her door, kicking it with his metal leg.

"Took you long enough to hear me, small fry!" Yuki shouted, her yells muffled by the material of the door. Ed was about to kick out at the wood again, but Al held him back.

"Calm down Ed, you'll break down the door." He pulled him to the other side of the floor. There were rooms all around the stairs, which were in the center of the floor. Alexandra's room was in the northwest corner, Yuki's was in the east, Al's in the west, and Ed's in the north. Currently, the southeast and northwest rooms were unoccupied. "You should be thankful that Alex is letting us live with her and her friend. We haven't had a real home in-"

"Shut up, Al! I know, okay? I know."

xxXxx

The doorbell rang and Yuki nearly fell off of the couch. Al looked up from his spot underneath the window, but Ed was deeply absorbed in one of Alexandra's many books. Alexandra wiped her hands off on a dish towel and ran to open it.

"I've got it!" she sang happily towards the four. She unlocked the front door and it swung open, revealing Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. He was smiling.

"Uh, hey," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I'm here." Alexandra beamed.

"Welcome, Roy! Come on, it's cold outside!" With a sweeping gesture, she pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. "Dinner's almost ready. You can take a seat at the bar!" She ran into the kitchen, towards the bubbling pots and delicious smells. Roy inhaled deeply and hung up his jacket; he was in civilian clothing for once. He cautiously sauntered towards one of the tall stools leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down.

"Wow, it smells great," he admitted, his stomach growling. "I haven't had a good meal in a long time."

"Well then, it's about time, isn't it?" She smiled at him and turned a few knobs on the stove. "Hey everybody! Come on, dinner's ready!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a stampede started. Ed was the first to drop his book, but Al jumped up and got in front of both of them. Yuki tripped Al and triumphantly started towards the food, when Ed threw the book at her and knocked her over. He grinned and ran off, but Al grabbed his leg and he tripped. Roy leaned back in his seat and watched, amused. Alexandra slapped her forehead and set out plates. After about five minutes, everybody had managed to get to their stools. Ed stared at the roast beef, vegetables and potatoes hungrily. He licked his lips and reached for them with a fork. Alexandra slapped his hand away quickly.

"Hey, no food until we say grace!" she scolded. Yuki nodded. Roy and Al put their hands together, and so did Ed, after a while, very reluctantly. "Now then." She cleared her throat. "Good Lord - Bless these sinners as they eat their dinners. Amen." They waited expectantly. "Go ahead! Eat!"

"Yes!" Ed dived for some of everything and started eating right away. Roy took some as well, obviously hungry, then Yuki went. Alexandra offered something to Al, and he took some, but didn't eat. He stared at his plate sadly. Alexandra noticed this.

"This is delicious," Roy commented after swallowing a forkful of meat.

"Yeah, it's amazing!" Ed agreed through a mouthful of something. Alexandra smiled.

"Thanks. I'm glad you like it!"

xxXxx

"Wow, that was amazing," Yuki moaned after finishing off her second helping. Of course, that was nothing compared to Ed's seven helpings and Roy's five. Al stayed quiet. He had gotten Ed to eat his share for him.

"Well, there's also dessert, in case you guys are interested," Alexandra said.

"Dessert!" Roy exclaimed.

"Oh boy!" Ed yelled. Yuki grinned. Alexandra fetched a few bowls of pudding from the refrigerator and gave one to each person. Again, Al didn't touch his. She didn't understand what was going on.

A few minutes later, everyone was finished with their food and Alexandra set the dishes in the sink, deciding to wash them later. Everyone was extremely happy with their meals. Al was tapping the top of the table with his fingers, bored. He noticed something unusual, though; even though there were only five of them, there were six table settings out. He asked.

"Alex?"

"Yes, Al?"

"Why is there an extra plate out?" Alexandra didn't respond. She looked down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs. Al noticed at once that this was a touchy subject for her, because she seemed to be crying. Everyone fell quiet and looked at her. She jumped off of her stool so abruptly that it fell over, and she ran off towards the living room. Al looked at Roy, then Yuki, then Ed. Nobody knew what was going on. They quickly followed her, but were surprised to find the couch moved away and her gone.

"Hey, what's that?" Al asked, pointing to what seemed to be a door in the floor.

"It's a trapdoor!" Ed exclaimed, running over to it. It was closed. He pulled it open, revealing a long set of stairs, which he started down, followed by everyone else. "Alex!" he shouted.

"Alexandra!" Yuki yelled.

"Alex?" Al asked. After about five seconds, they found her curled up on the floor in a corner of the small basement, evidently staring at the wall. Her back was to them. Al went first, kneeling down and resting his hand on her shoulder. "Alex, are you alright?" She didn't answer.

"Alex, Alex, say something!" Ed pleaded, also putting his hand on her shoulder. Yuki dropped to her knees and hugged her. Roy stood there, sort of awkwardly. In the end, he walked over and stood next to her, bringing with him an air of comfort. "Come on, Alex…"

"Tell me, Ed, Al," she whispered, in a surprisingly steady voice, "what did you do?"

"What?" Ed asked, confused. Neither of brothers knew what she meant.

"What did you do?" she repeated. "The Elric brothers…the FullMetal Alchemist? You had to do something to lose your arm and leg, Ed. And Al, you don't have a body…" She trailed off, her voice lingering like some sort of fog.

"H-how did you know?" Ed stuttered.

"Please, Ed, it wasn't that hard…your arm, it could withstand a bullet. You almost crushed my hand this morning. Your kick sent Torre flying two blocks. Normal limbs don't have that kind of power. And Al, you don't feel…you don't take your armour off. You don't eat." She sighed. "I know."

"I…" Ed was at a loss as to what he could say.

"It's true," Al whispered. "I don't have a body. Ed doesn't have an arm or leg. We made a mistake-"

"-and you're paying for it," Alexandra finished softly. Ed sighed and glanced around.

"What is this place, anyway?" he asked himself out loud.

"It's a laboratory, a library, a training room, a medical room…basically, it's everything an alchemist needs."

"What? Why would you need what an alchemist needs?"

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Edward."

"What…? What are you talking about?"

"Did you know I'm an alchemist? Obviously, I'm not good enough to be a State Alchemist, but I'm an alchemist."

"No…I didn't know."

"Well, like I said…they're a lot you don't know about me."

There was an awkward pause at that moment, during which Alexandra stood up and walked over to a bookshelf. She pulled out a volume entitled 'Alchemy for Beginners'.

"This brings back memories, huh?" she asked quietly.

"Strange. I said the same thing to Ed a few years ago…" Al whispered.

"My dad taught us," she said.

"We taught ourselves," Al explained. Ed narrowed his eyes and walked over to Alexandra.

"We? What do you mean, 'we'?" he asked suspiciously.

"Never mind. What did you do?"

"I…"

"Tell her, Ed," Al said softly. "Tell her."

Ed furrowed his brows in thought. Finally, he sighed. "It was our mother…" he trailed off, tears forming in his eyes. He had no idea that just talking about it would cause him so much grief. "We tried to bring her back. I thought we could do it."

"We thought we could do it," Al corrected.

"We were wrong." Ed leaned against the wall and rested his face in his hands. "We were so wrong. The whole thing backfired on us…my leg was broken down by alchemy…Al was screaming for me…"

"When I woke up, I was armor. Just armor. I saw Ed, lying, almost lifeless…he was holding onto his shoulder. I realized he was missing his leg and arm…"

"I used it to bind Al to the suit of armor. He took me to our neighbour's house. Our friend and her grandmother were both auto-mail mechanics. I paid for having auto-mail, and we left soon after that…"

"We burned down our home. We never wanted to go back. Roy offered for us to come and take the Alchemy Exam…we both passed, but I wasn't allowed to go on…"

"That's basically it, in a nutshell," Ed finished sadly, his eyes brimmed with tears. A few ran down his cheeks. "It was so horrible."

Alexandra took a deep clearing breath. She looked at Al, then at Roy, then Yuki, and finally her gaze rested on Ed. She looked at him for about a minute or so. He straightened up, curious about what she was thinking. She opened her mouth, finally. The first thing that came from it was something that sounded like a soft 'I'.

"I…" she bit her lip, not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say. It took her a few more minutes, as Ed still felt tears staining his cheeks and Al looked at his feet, and as Roy and Yuki looked at each other, confused. "I understand," she whispered, so quietly that only Ed heard her. At first, he thought he heard wrong. "I understand everything," she repeated, a bit louder. "I know what it's like."

Everyone turned to look at her. Ed's expression changed from one of sadness to one of utter fury. He moved towards her menacingly.

"Understand?" he spat. "How could you _possibly _understand?" He kept walking forward, making her back up with every step. "How could you possibly know how much it hurt when our mother died? When our father left us?" He had succeeded in backing her into a wall, and now had his hands on both sides of her head, literally pinning her to the spot. "How could you possibly know how painful it was to go through everything we went through? To be utterly devastated?" He was shouting at her now, and she felt helpless. She was on the verge of crying. "Well?" he yelled. "How?!"

Alexandra stared at him, knowing how angry he was. With a sharp inhale, she shoved him out of her way.

"How?" she asked in a small voice. "How? I'll tell you how!" She spun on her heel to face them all. Her eyes were shining, but she wasn't crying just yet. She pulled her hat off sharply and threw it on the ground. Her cats ears were visible. "Have you ever heard of a human chimera?" she asked evenly. "Well, meet me! Alexandra, the amazing cat girl hybrid! But no, that's not all!" By this time, each one of them looked shocked beyond reason. She stomped her foot on the ground and thrust her arm up. Al flew into the air.

"Whoa! What's going on?" he asked, afraid.

"That's another thing! I don't know where it came from, but it doubles my status as a freak, don't you agree?" Her voice was now getting louder, and it was laced with anger and sadness. Ed's eyes widened.

"H-how did-"

"Let me finish!" she yelled at him. Ed shut up immediately. She turned away from them and slowly took her sweater off, revealing a shirt with no sleeves underneath. Her arm brace was visible. "I lied," she said coldly to no one in particular. "I lied so many times in my life." She undid the first clasp, wincing. "So many fucking times!" She undid the next one. "Maybe it's time I told the truth for once!" she screamed out loud, letting the brace fall to the ground with a loud clatter. She yelled out in pain and fell to her knees when the weight of the auto-mail pulled on the exposed nerves and when the wiring poked into her tender flesh. With a sort of manic laugh, she turned and faced them. "This is how, Ed!" she shouted weakly. "This is how! Is it enough for you?" She sucked in some air. "I'll bet you're all wondering what's happened to me."

Ed ran over and dropped to his knees next to her. Everyone else did the same, wide-eyes and scared for her.

"It's an interesting story, really…see, my father was a State Alchemist. He taught me the science of alchemy. One day, when I was trying to turn sand into glass, the power backfired on me. It hit my mom. She died." Alexandra stopped, closing her eyes to stop herself from crying. "Me and my dad…we tried to bring her back. Both of us knew the laws. We didn't pay attention at all. He…he died. I watched him die in front of me. I watched him be torn apart until his was just flesh, blood and bone."

A few minutes of silence followed, as the four looked at Alexandra sobbing helplessly in front of them. "I'll tell you one thing, brothers," she whispered through her tears, "you're lucky."

"What?" Ed asked. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I mean you're lucky, you stupid fucktards! Have you realized that you still have ach other?" She stood up. "You have family! I don't even know if my brother is alive, damnit!" she screamed at them, holding her arm.

"You…you have a brother?" Al asked quietly. Alexandra looked at him, the fury in her eyes melting away slowly and painfully. A few seconds later, she was back on her knees, crying pathetically, unable to stop shaking. She was so overcome with emotion that she wanted to die.

"Yes," she choked. "Yes, I have a brother. He's my twin. He almost died the night we tried to bring our mother back…I cut off my arm to fix his wound…he hated me for killing mom. I hated myself. I wanted to die…oh, God, I wish he was here right now…" she doubled over and held her head in her free hand, her auto-mail tucked against her chest. "Oh God how I wish I had him right now…"

Without a word, Ed ran over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Alex-"

"Don't touch me!" she yelled weakly. "Just leave me alone! Go talk to your brother! Do anything, just leave me alone, alright? Everyone judges a book by its cover, no? Well, look at this!" She got up and stumbled over to where she had left the Alchemy book. She tossed it to Ed.

"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked softly.

"Open it! Read it!" she shouted. "I dare you!"

He did. The first thing on the page was 'Dear Diary'. He looked up at her. "But…"

"Go on! Read it!"

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was the day I had to separate from Alan. It was so hard…he was the only family I had left, and the only thing I have to remember him by is dad's pocket watch. He told me to keep it, as a reminder of the mistakes we made…_

…_but that wasn't it. Before those men took us away from each other, he grabbed my wrist and vowed to me that he would find me one day. That he would find me and show me his own pocket watch, after he had become State Alchemist. After that, Torre grabbed me and pulled me away. That was the last I saw of my twin._

_I can't believe I'm all alone now. I miss Alan so much, my heart hurts whenever I look at my pocket watch. It reminds me of mom, of dad, of Alan, and of how we could have prevented this whole mess if we hadn't been so competitive._

_Please, God, please…I just want my brother back, I can't –_

That's all that Ed read up to, because then the t trailed off across the page. The ink was smudged in places; obviously Alexandra had been crying when she wrote this. He checked the date. Two years ago. Or three? He looked up at her. She was dangling the pocket watch in front of her face.

"Alan. He was my brother. He was my…my mentor, you could say. He pretty much holds the other half of my heart. And now I feel like that half is gone." She dropped the watch on the ground, a single tear rolling down her cheek. It didn't break or dent. It just lay there, like some sort of forgotten relic. With one last glance at her friends, she ran up the stairs, out of the house, and blindly towards the park.

xxXxx

"Did you know?" Ed asked Yuki, his back facing her. He hadn't moved from his spot on his knees, right next to where Alexandra had been sitting moments before.

Yuki shook her head. "No, I didn't…she kept it from me…"

"With good reason, I suppose," Roy stated. He hadn't talked since dinner. "Would you accept her if you knew what she had done?"

Yuki looked very uncomfortable. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "No…" She said quietly. "No, I guess I wouldn't…"

"My point exactly," said the Lieutenant. "Maybe we should look for her…?"

"No," Al said quickly. "I think Ed should go. Alone."

"Yeah, Al…I think you're right…I should go apologize…" He stood up and looked towards the trap door. "I think we should all get out of here, it seems pretty private, and-" He cut himself off when he spotted a picture set on a nearby bench.

"What is it, Ed?" Yuki asked.

"That!" He pointed to the picture and quickly walked over to it.

It was clearly Alexandra, but a lot younger. Maybe at three or four. She was looking up curiously at a boy hanging from a tree branch, one who looked exactly like her. He was grinning down at her. She had a finger on her lip, and was reaching one hand out to him. His fingers were just brushing hers.

Ed clenched his fists and tears streamed down his face. _It's so unfair for her! She's lost her brother…_ He looked at Al. _He may not have a body, but he's there…he's there for me._

Without another word he grabbed the silver pocket watch, and then he ran out. Al was left standing there with Roy and Yuki. They walked upstairs a few minutes after, wondering what to do.

"Well," said Roy, "this sucks."

xxXxx

Alexandra sat just in front of the large cliff that opened out into the ocean. It was located in a rather secluded part of the park, where there were no trees and the moon was visible. She looked up at the sky, sniffling. It was snowing, and she was cold, but she didn't want to go back home.

Call her crazy, but she didn't want to face any of her friends. She hugged herself tightly, trying hard to ignore the pain shooting through her shoulder. It had snowed a surprising amount already, and the white powder was about a centimeter deep.

Suddenly, Alexandra heard footsteps in the snow, making odd crunching sounds in contrast to the silent night. She was going to turn around to see who or what it was, when Ed kneeled down next to her.

"You realize you'll get sick if you stay out here, right?" he asked quietly. He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Then he took off his hat and put it on her head.

"Look, Ed, I-"

"Shh." He put a finger against her lips. "You don't have to say anything. You don't have to say anything more." Ed hugged her close and she pressed her face into the front of his shirt.

Alexandra was so glad that Ed had told her that. She didn't want to say anything else.

It was enough just to have him here.

**A/N:**

Well, yeah. That chapter was long.

I don't know if I like it that much.

Please leave reviews!


	9. Next Time, Check Your Calendar!

**A/N:**

Me: Well, I am watching the ninth episode of FMA. I'm inspired.

Ed: Everyone's calling me short. -sulks-

Me: Aw. Shorty.

Ed: GAH! -spazzes-

Me: Yeah. It's fun!

Alexandra: .  
Ed: ALEXANDRA:DD

Alexandra: FullMetal Alchemist characters, references, and other related indicia © Hiromu Arakawa. Only Alexandra, Jonathan, Alan, Sophie, and Yuki belong to her!

**FullMetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 9: Next Time, Check Your Calendar!**

Alexandra clenched her teeth, gripping Ed's shoulders tightly. It hurt. Her arm hurt. Missing her brother hurt. Her heart hurt.

"Ed," she whispered.

"What is it, Alex?" he asked.

"Those auto-mail mechanics you mentioned…do you…do you think you could get them to come here? To fix my arm?"

Ed paused. He exhaled. "What exactly happened to you? Why is it so…mangled?"

"Halfway through the operation my auto-mail mechanic died from an explosion."

"What? An explosion? From what?"

"A group of Philosopher Stone hopefuls were bombing our town in hopes of finding it. My brother and I were the only ones that were left." She stopped and sniffed. "We met Torre that day. I sent him flying into a wall with my stupid freak powers. I actually went to a hospital to ask about them…they said it might have been because of the half-attached nerves on my arm. Said that they could have messed with my system or whatever…even mentioned that it could be alchemy. I didn't believe them. I just want to get my arm fixed." She was close to crying again.

"Don't worry, Alex," Ed whispered, hugging her closer. "I'll get them to come. I'll get your arm fixed."

xxXxx

Roy leaned back on the couch, stretching his legs over the coffee table and yawning. Al was looking out the window, staring in the direction of the park. Yuki was standing over Roy, staring daggers at him.

"Get off my furniture!" she yelled. "Get out of my house! I hate you! Leave!"

"Hey, what's your trouble? I'm just relaxing. Besides, technically, this is Alexandra's house," he said boredly. "You can't throw me out into the cold. You don't have the heart."

"Try me!" she yelled angrily. When Roy didn't respond, she started jumping up and down in fury.

Roy opened one eye. "Jeez, don't hurt yourself."

"I hate you! I hate you I hate you I hate you I-"

"Oh, just shut up already!" Al shouted, finally looking away from the window. "God! Yuki, your best friend just ran out of her own house. She's an emotional wreck! All you can do is shout!" Roy smirked. "You too, Lieutenant! You could be doing something constructive instead of pissing everyone off by being a lazy bastard!"

Roy was stunned. He had never heard Al say something like that. "I…"

"Oh, cut the crap. Just get off the couch and do something worthwhile."

Roy's eye twitched. "What do you suggest?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know, go wash the dishes or something." Vein in his head throbbing, Roy stood up and walked off to the kitchen. Yuki sniggered.

"And you can go fix up the mess downstairs," he told her pointedly. She stopped laughing.

"Fine," she muttered, walking off sulkily.

Not too long after that, Al exclaimed that he saw Ed coming back, and Alexandra was with him. He ran and opened the door, letting in a gust of cold wind and snow.

"Ed! Alex! You're back!"

Roy wiped his hands and walked over. "What took you so long?"

Suddenly there was a loud bang and everyone spun around to see Yuki lying on the floor beside the trap door. "Hey guys!" she said into the floor. Obviously she had tripped over the last step. "You're back! And guess what I found!" She fumbled around under her and pulled out four picture frames, and waved them above her. "Alex, who are these people?"

Alexandra looked at her for a few seconds. More tears welled up in her eyes. "I…I'm going to bed," she said feebly. Breaking free from Ed's grip, she ran off up the stairs. Everyone heard the distinct sound of a door slamming. They all looked at Yuki like they wanted to kill her.

"What?" She blinked. "What?! What did I do?!"

_**The Next Day.**_

Alexandra was shaken awake by the annoying sound of someone pounding on her door. She stirred groggily, rubbing her eyes and glancing at her alarm clock. It was…6 AM.

6AM? What the fuck?

"Who the hell is waking me up so early?" she asked loudly.

"Come on, Alex! I'm hungry! Please?" Ed's voice rang out, whining and pleading.

"Come back in three hours and I'll see what I can do," she mumbled into her pillow.

"Oh, no! No way! I'm hungry _now_!" He stamped his feet on the ground and Alexandra groaned. A few seconds passed, and it seemed like he was gone.

_Thank God, _she thought. _Now I can get some-_

"HA!" Ed screamed triumphantly. There was a loud bang, followed by a crash, and Ed burst into the room, grinning. The door lay broken under his feet.

Alexandra spoke, her face still in her pillow. "I hope you plan on fixing that later," she muttered, very annoyed by this point.

"Yeah, yeah…come on!" He walked over to her bed, sat on it, and grabbed her arm, trying to make her sit up. He succeeded, sort of – he ended up with Alexandra leaning against him, still half-asleep. He realized she had been sleeping in his shirt. _So that's where it went! No wonder I couldn't find it, damnit._

"What do you want?" she whined. "I just want to sleep…" Ed's eye twitched. She was straddling him so that she wouldn't fall off the bed.

"Uh…breakfast would be nice…"

"But I'm tired, and I don't know where my clothes are," she mumbled into his chest, starting to doze off again.

_Ah, why does she have to do this to me? She's too cute! But I'm still hungry. _"If I get your clothes for you, will you make me something to eat?"

"Deal," she muttered, falling back on the bed. Ed hopped up and ran over to her chest of drawers. He pulled open the first drawer and fell backwards.

There was nothing in it but panties and bras.

He lay on the ground, his eye twitching. Alexandra opened an eye lazily and looked down at him from the bed.

"Hey, if you can't get my clothes, go make yourself some toast or something. I'm going back to bed."

"No, no! I can get them!" Ed shouted, jumping up. He grabbed whatever pair of undergarments came into his hands first and threw them at Alexandra. Then he pulled a random shirt and pair of pants from her closet and threw those at her, too.

"Oh, Ed, a fashion expert you're not…" She looked at the panties and bra. "They don't even match!" She threw the bra at him. "Give me my black one. And, come on, this shirt? It has to be three times too small! Give me that sweater…no, not that one! _That _one! Yeah, no, yeah, that one! Moron! The blue and gray striped one! No, not that one! The _other _one! Are you colorblind or something? Yeah, that one!"

She sighed. Men. They couldn't even choose something as simple as clothes. He handed her the revised choice of clothing and she grabbed it, standing up to go change behind a screen.

"So, Ed, what do you want for breakfast?" she asked with a yawn, starting to change.

"I don't know. I'm just hungry. I'll figure out what for when I get downstairs."

"Thanks for being decisive, Elric."

"Yeah, no problem." Alexandra groaned behind the screen. "What is it?" he asked.

"Gah, I can't clasp this…do you think you could do it for me?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure," Ed said, not knowing what she meant.

"Okay, come on, you can't do it from across the room, stupid!"

Ed shrugged to himself and walked over behind the screen. His jaw dropped.

Alexandra wasn't wearing a shirt…just a lacy black bra. His eye started to twitch again.

"Well?" she asked impatiently. "I thought you couldn't wait!"

"Uh, yeah, right…uh, what do I do?" he asked sheepishly.

"Take one side…yeah, and see the little hooks? Put them through the loops on the _other _side. There." Ed succeeded in helping Alexandra clasp her bra, and she slipped on her top and kicked him out of her room. "I'm going to the bathroom. Go downstairs and figure out what you want." She walked into the bathroom and locked the door. Ed had no choice but to go downstairs.

xxXxx

"Okay, Ed, I'm here. What do you want me to-"

Alexandra stopped suddenly. Her jaw dropped as she stared wide-eyed at her kitchen. At least, at what was left of it…

Pots and pans were all over the floor, food was spattered on the walls, cloths were scattered on the counter, and Ed was standing in the middle of the gigantic mess.

"EDWARD ELRIC, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" she screamed. "YOU FUCKING DESTROYED MY KITCHEN! IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN FIVE MINUTES"

Ed started backing up.

"Hey, I was hungry! You were taking too long!"

"FUCK IT! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!" she shouted at him at the top of her lungs, walking towards him and cracking her knuckles.

"H-hey now, don't do anything you'll regret later…"

"I'm not going to regret this, you fucking moron! I'm giving you to the count of FIVE! You better start running!"

"Shouldn't we talk first?"

"ONE!"

"Wait!"

"TWO!"

"No, wait!"

"FIVE!" she screamed, and started running after him. Before either could take two steps, though, a crashing sound came from the direction of the stairs.

"Ahh! Fuck! I'm going to be late! Ahh! Fuck!" Yuki was yelling and running down the stairs three steps at a time, falling and tripping all over the place.

Alexandra grinned and held out a slightly charred piece of toast and a coffee mug. "Here you go, Yuki!"

"I can't stop! I have to go! Fuck!" she ran by Alexandra and grabbed both things. "Fuck!" She ran towards the door. Alexandra, her work done, started running after Ed again, who opened the door. Both Yuki and Ed ran for it at the same time, and they got stuck. Alexandra ran over and kicked them through it; they flew into Roy.

"Okay," he said slowly. "I think I missed something. Have I come at a bad time?" he asked, looking down at Yuki and Ed.

"Can't talk! Going to be late! Fuck!" Yuki yelled, standing. She looked at Roy. "I'll spazz at you later! Fuck, I'm going to be late!" She ran off.

"So what happened to you?" Roy asked Ed.

"Messed up Alex's kitchen," he mumbled, lying face down in the snow.

"Ah. I see." He stepped over his body and into the house. "Does Yuki know it's Saturday?"

"No," Alexandra replied.

Roy grinned. "I guess you aren't planning on telling her."

"Nope."

Suddenly the door banged, and a furious Yuki stepped inside.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME IT'S SATURDAY?!" she screamed at Alexandra.

"It must've slipped my mind," she said casually, winking at Roy. They burst out in laughter.


End file.
